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Figures 3, 3.12, 3.13, 3.14, 3.15, 3.16, 3.17, 3.18, 4.9, 4.11, 5.9, 5.11, 5.12, 6.4, 6.9, 6.12, and Tables 4.2, 4.6.
ISBN (electronic): 978-1-4648-0056-6
Cover photos: The World Bank and istockphoto (tree rings); Cover design: Gregory Wlosinski, General Services Department—Printing
and Multimedia, The World Bank.

Projected sea-level rise and northern-hemisphere summer heat events over land in
a 2°C World (upper panel) and a 4°C World (lower panel)
2.1 Time series from the instrumental measurement record of global-mean annual-mean
surface-air temperature anomalies relative to a 1851–80 reference period
2.2 Global-mean surface-air temperature time series unadjusted and adjusted
for short-term variability
2.3 Sea-level rise from observations and models
2.4 Projections for surface-air temperature increase
2.5 Temperature projections for global land area
2.6 Multi-model mean temperature anomaly for RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right)
for the months of JJA
2.7 Multi-model mean and individual models of the percentage
of global land area warmer than 3-sigma (top) and 5-sigma (bottom) during boreal
summer months (JJA) for scenarios RCP2.6 and RCP8.5
2.8 Multi-model mean of the percentage change in annual mean precipitation for RCP2.6 (left)
and RCP8.5 (right) by 2071–99 relative to 1951–80
2.9 Projections of the rate of global sea-level rise (left panel) and global sea-level rise (right panel)
2.10 Sea-level rise in the period 2081–2100 relative to 1986–2005 for the high-emission
scenario RCP8.5
2.11 Sea-level rise in the period 2081–2100 relative to 1986–2005 along the world’s coastlines,
from south to north

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3.1

3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7

3.8
3.9
3.10
3.11
3.12
3.13
3.14
3.15
3.16
3.17
3.18
4.1

4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5

Sub Sahara Africa – Multi-model mean of the percentage change in the Aridity Index
In a 2°C world (left) and a 4°C world (right) for Sub-Saharan Africa by 2071–2099 relative
to 1951–1980
Temperature projections for Sub-Saharan land area
Multi-model mean temperature anomaly for RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right)
for the months of DJF for Sub-Saharan Africa
Multi-model mean of the percentage of austral summer months in the time period 2071–99
Multi-model mean (thick line) and individual models (thin lines) of the percentage
of Sub-Saharan African land area warmer than 3-sigma (top) and 5-sigma (bottom)
during austral summer months (DJF) for scenarios RCP2.6 and RCP8.5
Multi-model mean of the percentage change in annual (top), austral summer (DJF-middle)
and austral winter (JJA-bottom) precipitation for RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right)
for Sub-Saharan Africa by 2071–99 relative to 1951–80
Multi-model mean of the percentage change in the annual-mean of monthly potential
evapotranspiration for RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right) for Sub-Saharan Africa
by 2071–99 relative to 1951–80
Multi-model mean of the percentage change in the aridity index in a 2°C world (left)
and a 4°C world (right) for Sub-Saharan Africa by 2071–99 relative to 1951–80
Multi-model mean (thick line) and individual models (thin lines) of the percentage
of Sub-Saharan African land area under sub-humid, semi-arid, arid, and hyper-arid
conditions for scenarios RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right)
Regional sea-level rise in 2081–2100 (relative to 1986–2005) for the Sub-Saharan
coastline under RCP8.5
Local sea-level rise above 1986–2005 mean as a result of global climate change
Crop land in Sub-Saharan Africa in year 2000
Average “yield gap” (difference between potential and achieved yields) for maize,
wheat, and rice for the year 2000
Climate change impacts on African agriculture as projected in recent literature
after approval and publication of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4)
Mean crop yield changes (percent) in 2070–2099 compared to 1971–2000
with corresponding standard deviations (percent) in six single cropping systems
(upper panel) and thirteen sequential cropping systems (lower panel)
Percentage overlap between the current (1993–2002 average) distribution of growing
season temperatures as recorded within a country and the simulated 2050 distribution
of temperatures in the same country
Observed cattle density in year 2000
Projections of transitions from C4-dominated vegetation cover to C3-dominated
vegetation for SRES A1B, in which GMT increases by 2.8°C above 1980–99
South East Asia – The regional pattern of sea-level rise in a 4°C world (left; RCP8.5)
as projected by using the semi-empirical approach adopted in this report and time-series
of projected sea-level rise for two selected cities in the region (right) for both RCP2.6
(2ºC world) and RCP8.5 (4°C world)
Temperature projections for South East Asian land area, for the multi-model mean (thick
line) and individual models (thin lines) under RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 for the months of JJA
Multi-model mean temperature anomaly for RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right)
for the months of JJA for South East Asia
Multi-model mean of the percentage of boreal summer months in the time period
2071–2099 with temperatures greater than 3-sigma (top row) and 5-sigma (bottom row)
for scenario RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right) over South East Asia
Multi-model mean (thick line) and individual models (thin lines) of the percentage
of South East Asian land area warmer than 3-sigma (top) and 5-sigma during boreal
summer months (JJA) for scenarios RCP2.6 and RCP8.5

Multi-model mean of the percentage change in annual (top), dry season (DJF, middle)
and wet season (JJA, bottom) precipitation for RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right)
for South East Asia by 2071–2099 relative to 1951–80
4.7 Regional sea-level rise projections for 2081–2100 (relative to 1986–2005) under RCP8.5
4.8 Local sea-level rise above 1986–2005 mean level as a result of global climate change
4.9 Low elevation areas in the Vietnamese deltas
4.10 Population size against density distribution.
4.11 Probability of a severe bleaching event (DHW>8) occurring during a given year
under scenario RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right)
5.1 South Asia Multi-model mean of the percentage change dry-season (DJF, left) and
wet-season (JJA, right) precipitation for RCP2.6 (2ºC world; top) and RCP8.5
(4ºC world; bottom) for South Asia by 2071–2099 relative to 1951–1980
5.2 Temperature projections for South Asian land area for the multi-model mean
(thick line) and individual models (thin lines) under scenarios RCP2.6 and RCP8.5
for the months of JJA
5.3 Multi-model mean temperature anomaly for RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right)
for the months of JJA for South Asia. Temperature anomalies in degrees Celsius
(top row) are averaged over the time period 2071–99 relative to 1951–80, and normalized
by the local standard deviation (bottom row)
5.4 Multi-model mean of the percentage of boreal summer months (JJA) in the time period
2071–99 with temperatures greater than 3-sigma (top row) and 5-sigma (bottom row)
for scenarios RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right) over South Asia
5.5 Multi-model mean (thick line) and individual models (thin lines) of the percentage
of South Asian land area warmer than 3-sigma (top) and 5-sigma (bottom) during
boreal summer months (JJA) for scenarios RCP2.6 and RCP8.5
5.6 Multi-model mean of the percentage change in annual (top), dry-season (DJF, middle)
and wet-season (JJA, bottom) precipitation for RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right)
for South Asia by 2071–99 relative to 1951–80
5.7 Regional sea-level rise for South Asia in 2081–2100 (relative to 1986–2005) under RCP 8.5
5.8 Local sea-level rise above the 1986–2005 mean as a result of global climate change
5.9 Likelihood (%) of (a),(c) a 10-percent reduction in green and blue water availability by the
2080s and (b),(d) water scarcity in the 2080s (left) under climate change only (CC;
including CO2 effects) and (right) under additional consideration of population change (CCP)
5.10 Population density in the Bay of Bengal region
5.11 The Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna basins
5.12 Low elevation areas in the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta
5.13 Scatter plot illustrating the relationship between temperature increase above
pre-industrial levels and changes in crop yield
5.14 Box plot illustrating the relationship between temperature increase above
pre-industrial levels and changes in crop yield
5.15 Median production change averaged across the climate change scenarios
(A1B, A2, and B1) with and without CO2 fertilization
6.1 The method to derive multisectoral impact hotspots. ∆GMT refers to change in global
mean temperature and G refers to the gamma-metric as described in Appendix 3
6.2 Multi-model median of present-day (1980–2010) availability of blue-water resources
per capita in food producing units (FPU)
6.3 Multi-model median of the relative change in blue-water resources per capita,
in 2069–99 relative to 1980–2010, for RCP2.6 (top) and RCP8.5 (bottom)
6.4 The percentage of impacts under a 4 to 5.6°C warming avoided by limiting warming
to just over 2°C by 2100 for population exposed to increased water stress (water
availability below 1000 m³ per capita)
6.5 Fraction of land surface at risk of severe ecosystem change as a function of global
mean temperature change for all ecosystems models, global climate models, and
emissions scenarios
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6.6 The proportion of eco-regions projected to regularly experience monthly climatic
conditions that were considered extreme in the period 1961–90
6.7 Fraction of global population (based on year 2000 population distribution), which is
affected by multiple pressures at a given level of GMT change above pre-industrial levels
6.8 Maps of exposure (left panel) and vulnerability (right panel, defined as the overlap
of exposure and human development level as shown in the table) to parallel
multisectoral pressures in 2100
6.9 Relative level of aggregate climate change between the 1986–2005 base period and
three different 20 year periods in the 21st century
6.10 Hotspots of drought mortality risk, based on past observations
6.11 Hotspots of cyclone mortality risk, based on past observations
6.12 Asset shocks and poverty traps
A1.1 Projections for surface-air temperature increase
A1.2 The probability that temperature increase exceeds 3°C or 4°C above pre-industrial levels
projected by a simple coupled carbon cycle/climate model
A1.3 Projected global-mean temperature increase relative to pre-industrial levels in 2081–2100
for the main scenarios used in this report
A1.4 As Figure A1.2 for the probability that temperature increase exceeds 1.5 and 2°C
A3.1 Illustration of the method for discharge in one grid cell in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Tables
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5

Summary of climate impacts and risks in Sub-Saharan Africa
Climatic classification of regions according to Aridity Index
Sub-Saharan Africa crop production projections
Impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa
Summary of climate impacts and risks in South East Asia
Areas at risk in South East Asian river deltas
Current and projected GDP and population of Jakarta, Manila, Ho Chi Minh, and Bangkok
Vulnerability indicators in Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam
Current and projected population exposed to 50 cm sea-level rise, land subsidence and
increased storm intensity in 2070 in Jakarta, Yangon, Manila, Bangkok, and Ho Chi Minh City
4.6 Current population and projected population exposed
4.7 Current and projected asset exposure to sea-level rise for South East Asian
coastal agglomerations
4.8 Total flood inundation area in Bangkok for sea-level rise projections from 14cm to 88cm
from 2025 to 2100
4.9 Impacts in South East Asia
5.1 Summary of climate impacts and risks in South Asia
5.2 Major results from the Nelson et al. (2010) assessment of crop production changes
to 2050 under climate change in South Asia
5.3 Projected and estimated sea-level rise under B1 and A2 scenarios from Yu et al. (2010),
compared to the 2°C and 4°C world projections in this report
5.4 Electricity sources in South Asian countries
5.5 Impacts in South Asia
A4.1 List of Studies Analyzed in the Section on Cities and Regions at Risk of Flooding in
Chapter 5 of this Report
A4.2 The studies depicted in the graph by Müller (2013)

Foreword
The work of the World Bank Group is to end extreme poverty and build shared prosperity. Today, we have
every reason to believe that it is within our grasp to end extreme poverty by 2030. But we will not meet
this goal without tackling the problem of climate change.
Our first Turn Down the Heat report, released late last year, concluded the world would warm by 4°C
by the end of this century if we did not take concerted action now.
This new report outlines an alarming scenario for the days and years ahead—what we could face in
our lifetime. The scientists tell us that if the world warms by 2°C—warming which may be reached in
20 to 30 years—that will cause widespread food shortages, unprecedented heat-waves, and more intense
cyclones. In the near-term, climate change, which is already unfolding, could batter the slums even more
and greatly harm the lives and the hopes of individuals and families who have had little hand in raising
the Earth’s temperature.
Today, our world is 0.8°C above pre-industrial levels of the 18th century. We could see a 2°C world in
the space of one generation.
The first Turn Down the Heat report was a wake-up call. This second scientific analysis gives us a more
detailed look at how the negative impacts of climate change already in motion could create devastating
conditions especially for those least able to adapt. The poorest could increasingly be hit the hardest.
For this report, we turned again to the scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
and Climate Analytics. This time, we asked them to take a closer look at the tropics and prepare a climate
forecast based on the best available evidence and supplemented with advanced computer simulations.
With a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and South Asia, the report examines in greater
detail the likely impacts for affected populations of present day, 2°C and 4°C warming on critical areas like
agricultural production, water resources, coastal ecosystems and cities.
The result is a dramatic picture of a world of climate and weather extremes causing devastation and
human suffering. In many cases, multiple threats of increasing extreme heat waves, sea-level rise, more severe
storms, droughts and floods will have severe negative implications for the poorest and most vulnerable.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, significant crop yield reductions with 2°C warming are expected to have strong
repercussions on food security, while rising temperatures could cause major loss of savanna grasslands
threatening pastoral livelihoods. In South Asia, projected changes to the monsoon system and rising peak
temperatures put water and food resources at severe risk. Energy security is threatened, too. While, across
South East Asia, rural livelihoods are faced with mounting pressures as sea-level rises, tropical cyclones
increase in intensity and important marine ecosystem services are lost as warming approaches 4°C.
Across all regions, the likely movement of impacted communities into urban areas could lead to ever
higher numbers of people in informal settlements being exposed to heat waves, flooding, and diseases.
xi

The case for resilience has never been stronger.
This report demands action. It reinforces the fact that climate change is a fundamental threat to economic development and the fight against poverty.
At the World Bank Group, we are concerned that unless the world takes bold action now, a disastrously
warming planet threatens to put prosperity out of reach of millions and roll back decades of development.
In response we are stepping up our mitigation, adaptation, and disaster risk management work, and
will increasingly look at all our business through a â&#x20AC;&#x153;climate lens.â&#x20AC;?
But we know that our work alone is not enough. We need to support action by others to deliver bold
ideas that will make the biggest difference.
I do not believe the poor are condemned to the future scientists envision in this report. In fact, I am
convinced we can reduce poverty even in a world severely challenged by climate change.
We can help cities grow clean and climate resilient, develop climate smart agriculture practices, and
find innovative ways to improve both energy efficiency and the performance of renewable energies. We
can work with countries to roll back harmful fossil fuel subsidies and help put the policies in place that
will eventually lead to a stable price on carbon.
We are determined to work with countries to find solutions. But the science is clear. There can be no
substitute for aggressive national emissions reduction targets.
Today, the burden of emissions reductions lies with a few large economies. Not all are clients of the
World Bank Group, but all share a commitment to ending poverty.
I hope this report will help convince everyone that the benefits of strong, early action on climate change
far outweigh the costs.
We face a future that is precarious because of our warming planet. We must meet these challenges with
political will, intelligence, and innovation. If we do, I see a future that eases the hardships of others, allows
the poor to climb out of poverty, and provides young and old alike with the possibilities of a better life.
Join us in our fight to make that future a reality. Our successes and failures in this fight will define our
generation.

Dr. Jim Yong Kim
President, World Bank Group

xii

Executive
Summary

Executive Summary
This report focuses on the risks of climate change to development in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and South Asia. Building on the 2012 report, Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided2, this new scientific analysis examines
the likely impacts of present day, 2°C and 4°C warming on agricultural production, water resources, and coastal vulnerability
for affected populations. It finds many significant climate and development impacts are already being felt in some regions, and
in some cases multiple threats of increasing extreme heat waves, sea-level rise, more severe storms, droughts and floods are
expected to have further severe negative implications for the poorest. Climate-related extreme events could push households
below the poverty trap threshold. High temperature extremes appear likely to affect yields of rice, wheat, maize and other
important crops, adversely affecting food security. Promoting economic growth and the eradication of poverty and inequality will thus be an increasingly challenging task under future climate change. Immediate steps are needed to help countries
adapt to the risks already locked in at current levels of 0.8°C warming, but with ambitious global action to drastically reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, many of the worst projected climate impacts could still be avoided by holding warming below 2°C.

Scope of the Report

The Global Picture

The first Turn Down the Heat report found that projections of
global warming, sea-level rise, tropical cyclone intensity, aridity and drought are expected to be felt disproportionately in the
developing countries around the equatorial regions relative to the
countries at higher latitudes. This report extends this previous
analysis by focusing on the risks of climate change to development
in three critical regions of the world: Sub-Saharan Africa, South
East Asia and South Asia.
While covering a range of sectors, this report focuses on how
climate change impacts on agricultural production, water resources,
coastal zone fisheries, and coastal safety are likely to increase, often
significantly, as global warming climbs from present levels of 0.8°C
up to 1.5°C, 2°C and 4°C above pre-industrial levels. This report
illustrates the range of impacts that much of the developing world
is already experiencing, and would be further exposed to, and it
indicates how these risks and disruptions could be felt differently in
other parts of the world. Figure 1 shows projections of temperature
and sea-level rise impacts at 2°C and 4°C global warming.

Scientific reviews published since the first Turn Down the Heat
report indicate that recent greenhouse gas emissions and future
emissions trends imply higher 21st century emission levels than
previously projected. As a consequence, the likelihood of 4°C
warming being reached or exceeded this century has increased,
in the absence of near-term actions and further commitments to
reduce emissions. This report reaffirms the International Energy
Agency’s 2012 assessment that in the absence of further mitigation action there is a 40 percent chance of warming exceeding
4°C by 2100 and a 10 percent chance of it exceeding 5°C in the
same period.
The 4°C scenario does not suggest that global mean temperatures would stabilize at this level; rather, emissions scenarios leading
to such warming would very likely lead to further increases in both
temperature and sea-level during the 22nd century. Furthermore,
2

Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided, launched by
the World Bank in November 2012.

even at present warming of 0.8°C above pre-industrial levels, the
observed climate change impacts are serious and indicate how
dramatically human activity can alter the natural environment
upon which human life depends.
The projected climate changes and impacts are derived
from a combined approach involving a range of climate models

of varying complexity, including the state of the art Coupled
Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), semi-empirical
modeling, the “Simple Climate Model” (SCM), the Model for
the Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Induced Climate Change
(MAGICC; see Appendix 1) and a synthesis of peer reviewed
literature.

Figure 1 Projected sea-level rise and northern-hemisphere summer heat events over land in a 2°C World (upper panel) and a 4°C
World (lower panel)

*

**

Upper panel: In a 2°C world, sea-level rise is projected to be less than 70 cm (yellow
over oceans) and the likelihood that a summer month’s heat is unprecedented is less
than 30 percent (blue/purple colors over land)
Lower panel: In a 4°C world, sea-level rise is projected to be more than 100 cm (orange
over oceans) and the likelihood that a summer month’s heat is unprecedented is greater
than 60 percent (orange/red colors over land)
*RCP2.6, IPCC AR5 scenario aiming to limit the increase of global mean temperature to 2°C above the preindustrial period.
**RCP8.5, IPCC AR5 scenario with no-climate-policy baseline and comparatively high greenhouse gas emissions.
In this report, this scenario is referred to as a 4°C World above the pre-industrial period.

xvi

E xe cu tive S um m ary

Key Findings Across the Regions
Among the key issues highlighted in this report are the early
onset of climate impacts, uneven regional distribution of climate
impacts, and interaction among impacts which accentuates cascade
effects. For example:
1. Unusual and unprecedented heat extremes3: Expected
to occur far more frequently and cover much greater land
areas, both globally and in the three regions examined. For
example, heat extremes in South East Asia are projected
to increase substantially in the near term, and would have
significant and adverse effects on humans and ecosystems
under 2°C and 4°C warming.
2. Rainfall regime changes and water availability: Even without
any climate change, population growth alone is expected to
put pressure on water resources in many regions in the future.
With projected climate change, however, pressure on water
resources is expected to increase significantly.
• Declines of 20 percent in water availability are projected
for many regions under a 2°C warming and of 50 percent
for some regions under 4°C warming. Limiting warming
to 2°C would reduce the global population exposed to
declining water availability to 20 percent.
• South Asian populations are likely to be increasingly vulnerable to the greater variability of precipitation changes,
in addition to the disturbances in the monsoon system
and rising peak temperatures that could put water and
food resources at severe risk.
3. Agricultural yields and nutritional quality: Crop production
systems will be under increasing pressure to meet growing
global demand in the future. Significant crop yield impacts
are already being felt at 0.8°C warming.
• While projections vary and are uncertain, clear risks
emerge as yield reducing temperature thresholds for
important crops have been observed, and crop yield
improvements appear to have been offset or limited by
observed warming (0.8°C) in many regions. There is also
some empirical evidence that higher atmospheric levels
of carbon dioxide (CO2) could result in lower protein
levels of some grain crops.
• For the regions studied in this report, global warming
above 1.5°C to 2°C increases the risk of reduced crop
yields and production losses in Sub-Saharan Africa,
South East Asia and South Asia. These impacts would
have strong repercussions on food security and are likely
to negatively influence economic growth and poverty
reduction in the impacted regions.

4. Terrestrial ecosystems: Increased warming could bring about
ecosystem shifts, fundamentally altering species compositions
and even leading to the extinction of some species.
• By the 2030s (with 1.2–1.3°C warming), some ecosystems in Africa, for example, are projected to experience
maximum extreme temperatures well beyond their present
range, with all African eco-regions exceeding this range
by 2070 (2.1–2.7°C warming).
• The distribution of species within savanna ecosystems are
projected to shift from grasses to woody plants, as CO2
fertilization favors the latter, although high temperatures
and precipitation deficits might counter this effect. This
shift will reduce available forage for livestock and stress
pastoral systems and livelihoods.
5. Sea-level rise: Has been occurring more rapidly than previously projected and a rise of as much as 50 cm by the 2050s
may be unavoidable as a result of past emissions: limiting
warming to 2°C may limit global sea-level rise to about 70
cm by 2100.
• As much as 100 cm sea-level rise may occur if emission
increases continue and raise the global average temperature to 4°C by 2100 and higher levels thereafter. While
the unexpectedly rapid rise over recent decades can
now be explained by the accelerated loss of ice from the
Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, significant uncertainty
remains as to the rate and scale of future sea-level rise.
• The sea-level nearer to the equator is projected to be
higher than the global mean of 100 cm at the end of the
century. In South East Asia for example, sea-level rise
is projected to be 10–15 percent higher than the global
mean. Coupled with storm surges and tropical cyclones,
this increase is projected to have devastating impacts on
coastal systems.
6. Marine ecosystems: The combined effects of warming and
ocean acidification are projected to cause major damages to
coral reef systems and lead to losses in fish production, at
least regionally.
• Substantial losses of coral reefs are projected by the time
warming reaches 1.5–2°C from both heat and ocean
3

In this report, “unusual” and “unprecedented” heat extremes are defined by
using thresholds based on the historical variability of the current local climate. The
absolute level of the threshold thus depends on the natural year-to-year variability in
the base period (1951–1980), which is captured by the standard deviation (sigma).
Unusual heat extremes are defined as 3-sigma events. For a normal distribution,
3-sigma events have a return time of 740 years. The 2012 US heat wave and the
2010 Russian heat wave classify as 3-sigma events. Unprecedented heat extremes
are defined as 5-sigma events. They have a return time of several million years.
These events which have almost certainly never occurred to date are projected for
the coming decades. See also Chapter 2 (Box 2.2).

acidification effects, with a majority of coral systems no
longer viable at current locations. Most coral reefs appear
unlikely to survive by the time 4°C warming is reached.
• Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the pH
of surface ocean waters has fallen by 0.1 pH units. Since
the pH scale, like the Richter scale, is logarithmic, this
change represents approximately a 30 percent increase
in acidity. Future predictions indicate that ocean acidity
will further increase as oceans continue to absorb carbon
dioxide. Estimates of future carbon dioxide levels, based
on business as usual emission scenarios, indicate that by
the end of this century the surface waters of the ocean
could be nearly 150 percent more acidic, resulting in pH
levels that the oceans have not experienced for more
than 20 million years.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Food Production
at Risk
Sub-Saharan Africa is a rapidly developing region of over 800 million people, with 49 countries, and great ecological, climatic and
cultural diversity. Its population for 2050 is projected to approach
1.5 billion people.
The region is confronted with a range of climate risks that could
have far-reaching repercussions for Sub-Saharan Africa´s societies
and economies in future. Even if warming is limited below 2°C, there
are very substantial risks and projected damages, and as warming
increases these are only expected to grow further. Sub-Saharan
Africa is particularly dependent on agriculture for food, income,
and employment, almost all of it rain-fed. Under 2°C warming,
large regional risks to food production emerge; these risks would
become stronger if adaptation measures are inadequate and the
CO2 fertilization effect is weak. Unprecedented heat extremes are
projected over an increasing percentage of land area as warming
goes from 2 to 4°C, resulting in significant changes in vegetative
cover and species at risk of extinction. Heat and drought would
also result in severe losses of livestock and associated impacts
on rural communities.

• Projected aridity trends: Aridity is projected to spread due
to changes in temperature and precipitation, most notably in
southern Africa (Figure 2). In a 4°C world, total hyper-arid
and arid areas are projected to expand by 10 percent compared
to the 1986–2005 period. Where aridity increases, crop yields
are likely to decline as the growing season shortens.
Sector Based and Thematic Impacts

• Water availability: Under 2°C warming the existing differences in water availability across the region could become
more pronounced.

• Agricultural production is expected to be affected in the
near-term, as warming shifts the climatic conditions that
are conducive to current agricultural production. The annual
average temperature is already above optimal values for wheat
during the growing season over much of the Sub-Saharan
Africa region and non-linear reductions in maize yield above
certain temperature thresholds have been reported. Significant
impacts are expected well before mid-century even for relatively
low levels of warming. For example, a 1.5°C warming by the
2030s could lead to about 40 percent of present maize cropping
areas being no longer suitable for current cultivars. In addition, under 1.5°C warming, significant negative impacts on
sorghum suitability in the western Sahel and southern Africa
are projected. Under warming of less than 2°C by the 2050s,
total crop production could be reduced by 10 percent. For
higher levels of warming there are indications that yields may
decrease by around 15–20 percent across all crops and regions.

• In southern Africa, annual precipitation is projected to
decrease by up to 30 percent under 4°C warming, and
parts of southern and west Africa may see decreases
in groundwater recharge rates of 50–70 percent. This

• Crop diversification strategies will be increasingly important:
The study indicates that sequential cropping is the preferable
option over single cropping systems under changing climatic
conditions. Such crop diversification strategies have long been

Likely Physical and Biophysical Impacts as a Function of Projected Climate Change

xviii

is projected to lead to an overall increase in the risk of
drought in southern Africa.
• Strong warming and an ambiguous precipitation signal
over central Africa is projected to increase drought risk
there.
• In the Horn of Africa and northern part of east Africa
substantial disagreements exists between high-resolution
regional and global climate models. Rainfall is projected
by many global climate models to increase in the Horn
of Africa and the northern part of east Africa, making
these areas somewhat less dry. The increases are projected to occur during higher intensity rainfall periods,
rather than evenly during the year, which increases
the risk of floods. In contrast, high-resolution regional
climate models project an increasing tendency towards
drier conditions. Recent research showed that the 2011
Horn of Africa drought, particularly severe in Kenya and
Somalia, is consistent with an increased probability of
long-rains failure under the influence of anthropogenic
climate change.

Multi-model mean of the percentage change in the annual Aridity Index in a 2°C world (left) and a 4°C world (right) for Sub-Saharan Africa by
2071–2099 relative to 1951–1980. In non-hatched areas, at least 4/5 (80 percent) of models agree. In hatched areas, 2/5 (40 percent) of the models
disagree. Note that a negative change corresponds to a shift to more arid conditions. Particular uncertainty remains for east Africa, where regional
climate model projections tend to show an increase in precipitation, which would be associated with a decrease in the Aridity Index. A decrease in
aridity does not necessarily imply more favorable conditions for agriculture or livestock, as it may be associated with increased flood risks.

practiced in Africa, providing a robust knowledge base and
opportunity for scaled up approaches in this area.
• Diversification options for agro-pastoral systems are likely
to decline (e.g. switching to silvopastoral systems, irrigated
forage production, and mixed crop-livestock systems) as climate
change reduces the carrying capacity of the land and livestock
productivity. For example, pastoralists in southern Ethiopia
lost nearly 50 percent of their cattle and about 40 percent of
their sheep and goats to droughts between 1995 and 1997.
• Regime shifts in African ecosystems are projected and could
result in the extent of savanna grasslands being reduced. By the
time 3°C global warming is reached, savannas are projected
to decrease to approximately one-seventh of total current land
area, reducing the availability of forage for grazing animals.
Projections indicate that species composition of local ecosystems
might shift, and negatively impact the livelihood strategies of
communities dependent on them.

• Health is expected to be significantly affected by climate
change. Rates of undernourishment are already high, ranging between 15–65 percent, depending on sub-region. With
warming of 1.2–1.9°C by 2050, the proportion of the population undernourished is projected to increase by 25–90 percent
compared to the present. Other impacts expected to accompany
climate change include mortality and morbidity due to extreme
events such as extreme heat and flooding.
• Climate change could exacerbate the existing development challenge of ensuring that the educational needs of
all children are met. Several factors that are expected to
worsen with climate change, including undernourishment,
childhood stunting, malaria and other diseases, can undermine childhood educational performance. The projected
increase in extreme monthly temperatures within the next
few decades may also have an adverse effect on learning
conditions.

South East Asia: Coastal Zones and
Productivity at Risk
South East Asia has seen strong economic growth and urbanization
trends, but poverty and inequality remain significant challenges
in the region. Its population for 2050 is projected to approach 759
million people with 65 percent of the population living in urban
areas. In 2010, the population was 593 million people with 44
percent of the population living in urban areas.
South East Asia has a high and increasing exposure to slow
onset impacts associated with rising sea-level, ocean warming
and increasing acidification combined with sudden-onset impacts
associated with tropical cyclones and rapidly increasingly heat
extremes. When these impacts combine they are likely to have
adverse effects on several sectors simultaneously, ultimately
undermining coastal livelihoods in the region. The deltaic areas
of South East Asia that have relatively high coastal population
densities are particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise and the projected increase in tropical cyclones intensity.

the Mahaka River region in Indonesia for a 100 cm sea-level
rise by 2100, the land area affected by saltwater intrusion is
expected to increase by 7–12 percent under 4°C warming.
Sector Based and Thematic Impacts
• River deltas are expected to be impacted by projected sealevel rise and increases in tropical cyclone intensity, along
with land subsidence caused by human activities. These factors will increase the vulnerability of both rural and urban
populations to risks including flooding, saltwater intrusion
and coastal erosion. The three river deltas of the Mekong,
Irrawaddy and Chao Phraya, all with significant land areas less
than 2 m above sea-level, are particularly at risk. Aquaculture,
agriculture, marine capture fisheries and tourism are the most
exposed sectors to climate change impacts in these deltas.
• Fisheries would be affected as primary productivity in the
world´s oceans is projected to decrease by up to 20 percent by
2100 relative to pre-industrial conditions. Fish in the Java Sea
and the Gulf of Thailand are projected to be severely affected
by increased water temperature and decreased oxygen levels,
with very large reductions in average maximum body size by
2050. It is also projected that maximum catch potential in
the southern Philippines could decrease by about 50 percent.

Likely Physical and Biophysical Impacts as a Function of Projected Climate Change
• Heat extremes: The South East Asian region is projected to see
a strong increase in the near term in monthly heat extremes.
Under 2°C global warming, heat extremes that are virtually
absent at present will cover nearly 60–70 percent of total
land area in summer, and unprecedented heat extremes up to
30–40 percent of land area in northern-hemisphere summer.
With 4°C global warming, summer months that in today´s
climate would be termed unprecedented, would be the new
normal, affecting nearly 90 percent of the land area during
the northern-hemisphere summer months.

• Aquaculture farms may be affected by several climate
change stressors. Increasing tropical cyclone intensity, salinity
intrusion and rising temperatures may exceed the tolerance
thresholds of regionally important farmed species. Aquaculture
is a rapidly growing sector in South East Asia, which accounts
for about 5 percent of Vietnam’s GDP. As nearly 40 percent of
dietary animal protein intake in South East Asia comes from
fish, this sector also significantly contributes to food security
in the region.

• Sea-level rise: For the South East Asian coastlines, projections of sea-level rise by the end of the 21st century relative to
1986–2005 are generally 10–15 percent higher than the global
mean. The analysis for Manila, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, and
Bangkok indicates that regional sea-level rise is likely to exceed
50 cm above current levels by about 2060, and 100 cm by 2090.
• Tropical cyclones: The intensity and maximum wind speed
of tropical cyclones making landfall is projected to increase
significantly for South East Asia; however, the total number
of land-falling cyclones may reduce significantly. Damages
may still rise as the greatest impacts are caused by the most
intense storms. Extreme rainfall associated with tropical
cyclones is expected to increase by up to a third reaching
50–80 mm per hour, indicating a higher level of flood risk in
susceptible regions.
• Saltwater intrusion: A considerable increase of salinity intrusion is projected in coastal areas. For example, in the case of
xx

• Coral reef loss and degradation would have severe impacts
for marine fisheries and tourism. Increasing sea surface temperatures have already led to major, damaging coral bleaching
events in the last few decades.4 Under 1.5°C warming and
increasing ocean acidification, there is a high risk (50 percent
probability) of annual bleaching events occurring as early as
2030 in the region (Figure 3). Projections indicate that all coral
reefs in the South East Asia region are very likely to experience
severe thermal stress by the year 2050, as well as chemical
stress due to ocean acidification.

4

Coral bleaching can be expected when a regional warm season maximum
temperature is exceeded by 1°C for more than four weeks and bleaching becomes
progressively worse at higher temperatures and/or longer periods over which the
regional threshold temperature is exceeded. Whilst corals can survive a bleaching
event they are subject to high mortality and take several years to recover. When
bleaching events become too frequent or extreme coral reefs can fail to recover.

E xe cu tive S um m ary

Figure 3 Projected impact of climate change on coral systems in South East Asia

• Agricultural production, particularly for rice in the Mekong
Delta, is vulnerable to sea-level rise. The Mekong Delta
produces around 50 percent of Vietnam’s total agricultural
production and contributes significantly to the country’s rice
exports. It has been estimated that a sea-level rise of 30 cm,
which could occur as early as 2040, could result in the loss
of about 12 percent of crop production due to inundation and
salinity intrusion relative to current levels.
• Coastal cities concentrate increasingly large populations and
assets exposed to climate change risks including increased
tropical storm intensity, long-term sea-level rise and suddenonset coastal flooding. Without adaptation, the area of Bangkok
projected to be inundated due to flooding linked to extreme
rainfall events and sea-level rise increases from around 40
percent under 15 cm sea-level rise above present (which

could occur by the 2030s), to about 70 percent under an
88cm sea-level rise scenario (which could occur by the 2080s
under 4°C warming). Further, the effects of heat extremes are
particularly pronounced in urban areas due to the urban heat
island effect and could result in high human mortality and
morbidity rates in cities. High levels of growth of both urban
populations and GDP further increase financial exposure to
climate change impacts in these areas. The urban poor are
particularly vulnerable to excessive heat and humidity stresses.
In 2005, 41 percent of the urban population of Vietnam and
44 percent of that of the Philippines lived in informal settlements. Floods associated with sea-level rise and storm surges
carry significant risks in informal settlements, where lack of
drainage and damages to sanitation and water facilities are
accompanied by health threats.
xxi

South Asia: Extremes of Water Scarcity
and Excess
South Asia is home to a growing population of about 1.6 billion
people, which is projected to rise to over 2.2 billion people by
2050. It has seen robust economic growth in recent years, yet
poverty remains widespread, with the world’s largest concentration of poor people residing in the region. The timely arrival of
the summer monsoon, and its regularity, are critical for the rural
economy and agriculture in South Asia.
In South Asia, climate change shocks to food production and
seasonal water availability appear likely to confront populations
with ongoing and multiple challenges to secure access to safe
drinking water, sufficient water for irrigation and hydropower
production, and adequate cooling capacity for thermal power
production. Potential impact hotspots such as Bangladesh are
projected to be confronted by increasing challenges from extreme
river floods, more intense tropical cyclones, rising sea-level and
very high temperatures. While the vulnerability of South Asia’s
large and poor populations can be expected to be reduced in the
future by economic development and growth, climate projections
indicate that high levels of local vulnerability are likely to remain
and persist.
Many of the climate change impacts in the region, which
appear quite severe with relatively modest warming of 1.5–2°C,
pose a significant challenge to development. Major investments
in infrastructure, flood defense, development of high temperature
and drought resistant crop cultivars, and major improvements in
sustainability practices, for example in relation to groundwater
extraction would be needed to cope with the projected impacts
under this level of warming.
Likely Physical and Biophysical Impacts as a Function of Projected Climate Change
• Heat extremes: Irrespective of future emission paths, in the
next twenty years a several-fold increase in the frequency of
unusually hot and extreme summer months is projected. A
substantial increase in mortality is expected to be associated
with such heat extremes and has been observed in the past.
• Precipitation: Climate change will impact precipitation with
variations across spatial and temporal scales. Annual precipitation is projected to increase by up to 30 percent in a 4°C
world, however projections also indicate that dry areas such
as in the north west, a major food producing region, would
get drier and presently wet areas, get wetter. The seasonal
distribution of precipitation is expected to become amplified,
with a decrease of up to 30 percent during the dry season and
a 30 percent increase during the wet season under a 4°C world
(Figure 4). The projections show large sub-regional variations,
xxii

with precipitation increasing during the monsoon season for
currently wet areas (south, northeast) and precipitation decreasing for currently dry months and areas (north, northwest),
with larger uncertainties for those regions in other seasons.
• Monsoon: Significant increases in inter-annual and intraseasonal variability of monsoon rainfall are to be expected.
With global mean warming approaching 4°C, an increase
in intra-seasonal variability in the Indian summer monsoon
precipitation of approximately 10 percent is projected. Large
uncertainty, however, remains about the fundamental behavior
of the Indian summer monsoon under global warming.
• Drought: The projected increase in the seasonality of precipitation is associated with an increase in the number of dry days,
leading to droughts that are amplified by continued warming,
with adverse consequences for human lives. Droughts are
expected to pose an increasing risk in parts of the region.
Although drought projections are made difficult by uncertain
precipitation projections and differing drought indicators, some
regions emerge to be at particularly high risk. These include
north-western India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Over southern
India, increasing wetness is projected with broad agreement
between climate models.
• Glacial loss, snow cover reductions and river flow: Over
the past century, most of the Himalayan glaciers have been
retreating. Melting glaciers and loss of snow cover pose a
significant risk to stable and reliable water resources. Major
rivers, such as the Ganges, Indus and Brahmaputra, depend
significantly on snow and glacial melt water, which makes
them highly susceptible to climate change-induced glacier
melt and reductions in snowfall. Well before 2°C warming, a
rapid increase in the frequency of low snow years is projected
with a consequent shift towards high winter and spring runoff
with increased flooding risks, and substantial reductions in dry
season flow, threatening agriculture. These risks are projected
to become extreme by the time 4°C warming is reached.
• Sea-level rise: With South Asian coastlines located close to
the equator, projections of local sea-level rise show a stronger
increase compared to higher latitudes. Sea-level rise is projected to be approximately 100–115 cm in a 4°C world and
60–80 cm in a 2°C world by the end of the 21st century relative
to 1986–2005, with the highest values expected for the Maldives.
Sector Based and Thematic Impacts
• Crop yields are vulnerable to a host of climate-related
factors in the region, including seasonal water scarcity, rising temperatures and salinity intrusion due to sea-level rise.
Projections indicate an increasingly large and likely negative
impact on crop yields with rising temperatures. The projected

E xe cu tive S um m ary

CO2 fertilization effect could help to offset some of the yield
reduction due to temperature effects, but recent data shows
that the protein content of grains may be reduced. For warming greater than 2°C, yield levels are projected to drop even
with CO2 fertilization.

Figure 4 Projected impact of climate change on annual, wet
and dry season rainfall in South Asia

• Total crop production and per-capita calorie availability is
projected to decrease significantly with climate change. Without
climate change, total crop production is projected to increase
significantly by 60 percent in the region. Under a 2°C warming,
by the 2050s, more than twice the imports might be required
to meet per capita calorie demand when compared to a case
without climate change. Decreasing food availability is related
to significant health problems for affected populations, including
childhood stunting, which is projected to increase by 35 percent
compared to a scenario without climate change by 2050, with
likely long-term consequences for populations in the region.
• Water resources are already at risk in the densely populated countries of South Asia, according to most methods
for assessing this risk. For global mean warming approaching
4°C, a 10 percent increase in annual-mean monsoon intensity
and a 15 percent increase in year-to-year variability of Indian
summer monsoon precipitation is projected compared to
normal levels during the first half of the 20th century. Taken
together, these changes imply that an extreme wet monsoon
that currently has a chance of occurring only once in 100 years
is projected to occur every 10 years by the end of the century.
• Deltaic regions and coastal cities are particularly exposed
to compounding climate risks resulting from the interacting
effects of increased temperature, growing risks of river flooding,
rising sea-level and increasingly intense tropical cyclones, posing
a high risk to areas with the largest shares of poor populations.
Under 2°C warming, Bangladesh emerges as an impact hotspot
with sea-level rise causing threats to food production, livelihoods, urban areas and infrastructure. Increased river flooding
combined with tropical cyclone surges also present significant
risks. Human activity (building of irrigation dams, barrages,
river embankments and diversions in the inland basins of rivers)
can seriously exacerbate the risk of flooding downstream from
extreme rainfall events higher up in river catchments.
• Energy security is expected to come under increasing
pressure from climate-related impacts to water resources.
The two dominant forms of power generation in the region
are hydropower and thermal power generation (e.g., fossil
fuel, nuclear and concentrated solar power), both of which
can be undermined by inadequate water supply. Thermal
power generation may also be affected through pressure
placed on cooling systems due to increases in air and water
temperatures.

Multi-model mean of the percentage change in annual (top), dryseason (DJF, middle) and wet-season (JJA, bottom) precipitation for
RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right) for South Asia by 2071–2099 relative
to 1951–1980. Hatched areas indicate uncertainty regions, with 2 out
of 5 models disagreeing on the direction of change compared to the
remaining 3 models.

Tipping Points, Cascading Impacts and
Consequences for Human Development
This report shows that the three highly diverse regions of SubSaharan Africa, South East Asia, and South Asia that were analyzed
are exposed to the adverse effects of climate change (Tables 1-3).
Most of the impacts materialize at relatively low levels of warming,
well before warming of 4°C above pre-industrial levels is reached.
Each of the regions is projected to experience a rising incidence of unprecedented heat extremes in the summer months
by the mid-2020s, well before a warming of even 1.5°C. In fact,
with temperatures at 0.8°C above pre-industrial levels, the last
decade has seen extreme events taking high death tolls across
all regions and causing wide-ranging damage to assets and agricultural production. As warming approaches 4°C, the severity
of impacts is expected to grow with regions being affected differently (see Box 1).
xxiii

Box 1: Regional Tipping Points,
Cascading Impacts, and
Development Implications
• Sub-Saharan Africa’s food production systems are increasingly at risk from the impacts of climate change. Significant
yield reductions already evident under 2°C warming are
expected to have strong repercussions on food security and
may negatively influence economic growth and poverty reduction in the region. Significant shifts in species composition
and existing ecosystem boundaries could negatively impact
pastoral livelihoods and the productivity of cropping systems
and food security.
• South East Asian rural livelihoods are faced with mounting
pressures as sea-level rises and important marine ecosystem
services are expected to be lost as warming approaches
4°C. Coral systems are threatened with extinction and their
loss would increase the vulnerability of coastlines to sea-level
rise and storms. The displacement of impacted rural and
coastal communities resulting from the loss of livelihood into
urban areas could lead to ever higher numbers of people
in informal settlements being exposed to multiple climate
impacts, including heat waves, flooding, and disease.
• South Asian populations in large parts depend on the stability of the monsoon, which provides water resources for most of
the agricultural production in the region. Disturbances to the
monsoon system and rising peak temperatures put water and
food resources at severe risk. Particularly in deltaic areas,
populations are exposed to the multiple threats of increasing
tropical cyclone intensity, sea-level rise, heat extremes and
extreme precipitation. Such multiple impacts can have severe
negative implications for poverty eradication in the region.

Tipping Points and Cascading Impacts
As temperatures continue to rise, there is an increased risk of
critical thresholds being breached. At such “tipping points”,
elements of human or natural systems—such as crop yields, dry
season irrigation systems, coral reefs, and savanna grasslands—
are pushed beyond critical thresholds, leading to abrupt system
changes and negative impacts on the goods and services they
provide. Within the agricultural sector, observed high temperature
sensitivity in some crops (e.g., maize), where substantial yield
reductions occur when critical temperatures are exceeded, points
to a plausible threshold risk in food production regionally. In a
global context, warming induced pressure on food supplies could
have far-reaching consequences.
Some major risks cannot yet be quantified adequately: For
example, while large uncertainty remains, the monsoon has been
xxiv

identified as a potential tipping element of the Earth system. Physically plausible mechanisms for an abrupt change in the Indian
monsoon towards a drier, lower rainfall state could precipitate a
major crisis in the South Asian region.
Climate impacts can create a domino-effect and thereby ultimately affect human development. For example, decreased yields
and lower nutritional value of crops could cascade throughout
society by increasing the level of malnutrition and childhood stunting, causing adverse impacts on educational performance. These
effects can persist into adulthood with long-term consequences
for human capital that could substantially increase future development challenges. Most of the impacts presented in the regional
analyses are not unique to these regions. For example, global
warming impacts on coral reefs worldwide could have cascading
impacts on local livelihoods, and tourism.
Multi-Sectoral Hotspots
Under 4°C warming, most of the world’s population is likely
to be affected by impacts occurring simultaneously in multiple
sectors. Furthermore, these cascading impacts will likely not be
confined to one region only; rather they are expected to have farreaching repercussions across the globe. For example, impacts in
the agricultural sector are expected to affect the global trade of
food commodities, so that production shocks in one region can
have wide-ranging consequences for populations in others. Thus,
vulnerability could be greater than suggested by the sectoral
analysis of the assessed regions due to the global interdependence,
and impacts on populations are by no means limited to those that
form the focus of this report. Many of the climatic risk factors are
concentrated in the tropics. However, no region is immune to the
impacts of climate change. In fact, under 4°C warming, most of
the world´s population is likely to be affected by impacts occurring simultaneously in multiple sectors.
Results from the recent Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP) were used to assess ‘hotspots’ where
considerable impacts in one location occur concurrently in more
than one sector (agriculture, water resources, ecosystems and
health (malaria)). The proportion of the global population affected
contemporaneously by multiple impacts increases significantly
under higher levels of warming. Assuming fixed year-2000 population levels and distribution, the proportion of people exposed
to multiple stressors across these sectors would increase by 20
percent under 2°C warming to more than 80 percent under 4°C
warming above pre-industrial levels. This novel analysis5 finds
exposure hotspots to be the southern Amazon Basin, southern
Europe, east Africa and the north of South Asia. The Amazon and
5

Based on the first inter-sectoral climate model intercomparison, the first round
of which was concluded in early 2013. Papers are in revision at the time of writing
this report.

E xe cu tive S um m ary

the East African highlands are particularly notable due to their
exposure to three overlapping sectors. Small regions in Central
America and West Africa are also affected.
Consequences for Development
Climate change is already undermining progress and prospects
for development and threatens to deepen vulnerabilities and
erode hard-won gains. Consequences are already being felt on
every continent and in every sector. Species are being lost, lands
are being inundated, and livelihoods are being threatened. More
droughts, more floods, more strong storms, and more forest fires
are taxing individuals, businesses and governments. Climaterelated extreme events can push households below the poverty
trap threshold, which could lead to greater rural-urban migration
(see Box 2). Promoting economic growth and the eradication of
poverty and inequality will thus be an increasingly challenging
task under future climate change.
Actions must be taken to mitigate the pace of climate change
and to adapt to the impacts already felt today. It will be impossible to lift the poorest on the planet out of poverty if climate
change proceeds unchecked. Strong and decisive action must be
taken to avoid a 4°C world—one that is unmanageable and laden
with unprecedented heat waves and increased human suffering.
It is not too late to hold warming near 2°C, and build resilience
to temperatures and other climate impacts that are expected to
still pose significant risks to agriculture, water resources, coastal
infrastructure, and human health. A new momentum is needed.
Dramatic technological change, steadfast and visionary political
will, and international cooperation are required to change the
trajectory of climate change and to protect people and ecosystems.
The window for holding warming below 2°C and avoiding a 4°C
world is closing rapidly, and the time to act is now.

Box 2: New Clusters of
Vulnerability—Urban Areas
One of the common features that emerge from the regional analyses is of new clusters of vulnerability appearing in urban areas.
Urbanization rates are high in developing regions. For
example, by 2050, it is projected that up to 56 percent of SubSaharan Africa’s population will live in urban areas compared to
36 percent in 2010. Although the urbanization trend is driven by
a host of factors, climate change is becoming an increasingly
significant driver as it places rural and coastal livelihoods under
mounting pressure.
While rural residents are expected to be exposed to a variety
of climatic risk factors in each region, a number of factors define
the particular vulnerability of urban dwellers, especially the urban
poor, to climate change impacts. For example:
• Extreme heat is felt more acutely in cities where the built-up
environments amplify temperatures.
• As many cities are located in coastal areas, they are often
exposed to flooding and storm surges.
• Informal settlements concentrate large populations and often
lack basic services, such as electricity, sanitation, health,
infrastructure and durable housing. In such areas, people are
highly exposed to extreme weather events, such as storms
and flooding. For example, this situation is the case in Metro
Manila in the Philippines, or Kolkata in India, where poor
households are located in low-lying areas or wetlands that are
particularly vulnerable to tidal and storm surges.
• Informal settlements often provide conditions particularly
conducive to the transmission of vector and water borne
diseases, such as cholera and malaria that are projected to
become more prevalent with climate change.
• The urban poor have been identified as the group most
vulnerable to increases in food prices following production
shocks and declines that are projected under future climate
change.
Climate change poses a particular threat to urban residents
and at the same time is expected to further drive urbanization,
ultimately placing more people at risk to the clusters of impacts
outlined above. Urban planning and enhanced social protection measures, however, provide the opportunity to build more
resilient communities in the face of climate change.

Likely risk of severe drought in southern
and central Africa, increased risk in
west Africa, possible decrease in east
Africa but west and east African projections are uncertain2

Likely risk of extreme drought
in southern Africa and severe
drought in central Africa,
increased risk in west Africa,
possible decrease in east
Africa, but west and east African projections are uncertain3

Baseline of approximately 81 million tonnes in 2000, about 121 kg/
capita

Crop yields,
areas and food
production
All crops

50–70 percent decrease in recharge
rates in western southern Africa and
southern west Africa; 30 percent increase in recharge rate in some parts of
eastern southern Africa and east Africa6

Increase in blue water availability in east Africa and parts
of west Africa7; decrease in
green water availability in
most of Africa, except parts
of east Africa

Projected climate over less than 15
percent of maize, millet and sorghum
areas overlaps with present-day climate
of crop-growing areas

Reduced length of growing period by more than 20
percent

Without climate change, a large projected increase of total production to
192 million tonnes that fails to keep up
with population growth, hence decrease
to 111 kg/capita. With climate change
smaller increase to 176 million tonnes
and further decrease to 101 kg/capita8
Increased crop losses and damages
(maize, sorghum, wheat, millet, groundnut, cassava)9

Yields
Severe drought impacts on livestock10

10 percent increase in yields
of B. decumbens (pasture
species) in east and southern
Africa; 4 percent and 6 percent decrease in central and
west Africa11

Livestock
Marine fisheries

Significant reduction in available
protein; economic and job losses
projected12
Approximately 18 million
people flooded per year
without adaptation13

Coastal areas

Health and poverty

xxvi

Undernourishment is expected to increase significantly, and those affected
by moderate and severe stunting is
expected to increase14

E xe cu tive S um m ary

Table 2: Climate Impacts in South East Asia
0.8°C WARMING
(Observed)

RISK/IMPACT
Unusual heat
extremes

Heat extremes

Virtually absent

Unprecedented Absent
heat extremes

2°C WARMING
(2040s)1
About 60–70 percent of land in boreal
summer months (JJA)

Decreased number of tropical
cyclones making landfall,
but maximum wind velocity
at the coast is projected to
increase by about 6 percent
for mainland South East Asia
and about 9 percent for the
Philippines

75cm (65–85cm) by 2080–2100

110 cm (85–130cm) by
2080–2100, lower around
Bangkok by 5 cm

Tropical cyclones
Sea-level rise
Coastal erosion
(loss of land)

For the south Hai Thinh commune
in the Vietnamese Red River delta,
about 34 percent (12 percent)
of the increase of erosion rate
between 1965 and 1995 (1995 and
2005) has been attributed to the
direct effect of sea-level rise19

Mekong delta significant
increase in coastal erosion20

Population
exposure

20 million people in South East
Asian cities exposed to coastal
flooding in 200521

8.5 million people more than
at present are projected to be
exposed to coastal flooding
by 2100 for global sea-level
rise of 1 m22

City exposure

Ho Chi Minh City—up to 60
percent of the built-up area
projected to be exposed23 to
1 m sea-level rise

Sea-level rise
impacts

Salinity intrusion
Ecosystem
impacts (Coral
reefs / coastal
wetlands)

4°C WARMING
(2080s)

Mekong River delta (2005): Long
An province’s sugar cane production diminished by 5–10 percent;
and significant rice in Duc Hoa
district was destroyed24

Mahakam river region in Indonesia, increase in land area
affected by 7–12 percent25

In India, gross per capita water
availability is projected to decline
due to population growth41

Food water requirements in India
projected to exceed green water
availability42, 43. Around 3°C, it is very
likely that per capita water availability in
South Asia will decrease by more than
10 percent44

Groundwater
recharge

Groundwater resources already
under stress45

Climate change is projected to further
aggravate groundwater stress
Overall crop production is projected to
increase by only 12 percent above 2000
levels (instead of a 60 percent increase
without climate change), leading to a
one third decline in per capita crop
production46

Crop production
Yields

All crops

xxviii

Reduced rice yields, especially in
rain-fed areas

Crop yield decreases regardless of
potentially positive effects

Malnutrition
and childhood
stunting

With climate change percentages
increase to 14.6 percent and about 5
percent respectively47

New Delhi exhibits a 4 percent increase in heat-related mortality per
1°C above the local heat threshold
of 20°C49

Most South Asian countries are likely to
experience a very substantial increase
in excess mortality due to heat stress by
the 2090s50

By 2070 approximately 1.5
million people are projected
to be affected by coastal
floods in the coastal cities of
Bangladesh37

50 percent increase in run-off

E xe cu tive S um m ary

Endnotes
1

Years indicate the decade during which warming levels are exceeded in a business-as-usual scenario, not in mitigation scenarios limiting warming to these levels, or
below, since in that case the year of exceeding would always be 2100, or not at all.
2 This is the general picture from CMIP5 global climate models; however, significant uncertainty appears to remain. Observed drought trends (Lyon and DeWitt 2012) and
attribution of the 2011 drought in part to human influence (Lott et al. 2013) leaves significant uncertainty as to whether the projected increased precipitation and reduced
drought are robust (Tierney, Smerdon, Anchukaitis, and Seager 2013).
3 Dai (2012). CMIP5 models under RCP4.5 for drought changes 2050–99, warming of about 2.6°C above pre-industrial levels.
4 see Endnote 2.
5 Parry et al. (2007).
6 Temperature increase of 2.3°C and 2.1°C for the period 2041–2079 under SRES A2 and B2 (Döll, 2009).
7 Gerten et al. (2011).
8 Nelson et al. (2010).
9 Schlenker and Lobell (2010).
10 FAO (2008).
11 Thornton et al. (2011).
12 Lam, Cheung, Swartz, & Sumaila (2012). Applying the same method and scenario as (Cheung et al., 2010).
13 Hinkel et al. (2011) high SLR scenario 126 cm by 2100. In the no sea-level rise scenario, only accounting for delta subsidence and increased population, up to 9 million
people would be affected.
14 Lloyd, Kovats, and Chalabi (2011) estimate the impact of climate-change-induced changes to crop productivity on undernourished and stunted children under five years
of age by 2050 and find that the proportion of undernourished children is projected to increase by 52 percent, 116 percent, 82 percent, and 142 percent in central, east, south,
and west Sub-Saharan Africa, respectively. The proportion of stunting among children is projected to increase by 1 percent (for moderate stunting) or 30 percent (for severe
stunting); 9 percent or 55 percent; 23 percent or 55 percent; and 9 percent or 36 percent for central, east, south, and west Sub-Saharan Africa.
15 Beyond 5-sigma under 2°C warming by 2071–2099.
16 Held and Zhao (2011).
17 Murakami, Wang, et al. (2012).
18 Murakami, Wang, et al. (2012). Future (2075–99) projections SRES A1B scenario.
19 Duc, Nhuan, & Ngoi (2012).
20 1m sea-level rise by 2100 (Mackay and Russell, 2011).
21 Hanson et al. (2011).
22 Brecht et al. (2012). In this study, urban population fraction is held constant over the 21st century.
23 Storch & Downes (2011). In the absence of adaptation, the planned urban development for the year 2025 contributes to increase Ho Chi Minh City exposure to sea-level
rise by 17 percent.
24 MoNRE (2010) states “Sea-level rise, impacts of high tide and low discharge in dry season contribute to deeper salinity intrusion. In 2005, deep intrusion (and more early
than normal), high salinity and long-lasting salinization occurred frequently in Mekong Delta provinces.”
25 Under 4°C warming and 1 m sea-level rise by 2100 (Mcleod, Hinkel et al., 2010).
26 Meissner, Lippmann, & Sen Gupta (2012).
27 US$190.7 million per year for the period 2010–2020 (Kam, Badjeck, Teh, Teh, & Tran, 2012); US$130 million per year for the period 2010–2050 (World Bank, 2010).
28 Maximum catch potential (Cheung et al., 2010).
29 Lehodey et al. (2010). In a 4°C world, conditions for larval spawning in the western Pacific are projected to have deteriorated due to increasing temperatures. Overall
adult mortality is projected to increase, leading to a markedly negative trend in biomass by 2100.
30 Kolstad & Johansson (2011) derived a relationship between diarrhoea and warming based on earlier studies. (Scenario A1B).
31 Perch-Nielsen (2009). Assessment allows for adaptive capacity, exposure and sensitivity in a 2°C warming and 50cm SLR scenario for the period 2041–2070.
32 Dai (2012).
33 Sillmann & Kharin (2013).
34 For a scenario in which warming peaks above 1.5°C around the 2050s and drops below 1.5°C by 2100. Due to slow response of oceans and ice sheets the sea-level
response is similar to a 2°C scenario during the 21st century, but deviates from it after 2100.
35 World Bank (2010a). Based on the assumption that landfall occurs during high-tide and that wind speed increases by 10 percent compared to cyclone Sidr.
36 Mirza (2010).
37 Brecht et al. (2012). In this study, urban population fraction is held constant over the 21st century.
38 Van Vliet et al. (2013), for warming of 2.3°C and of 3.2°C.
39 Fung, Lopez, & New (2011) SRES A1B warming of about 2.7°C above pre-industrial levels.
40 For the 2045 to 2065 period (global-mean warming of 2.3°C above pre-industrial) (Immerzeel, Van Beek, & Bierkens, 2010).
41 Bates, Kundzewicz, Wu, & Palutikof (2008); Gupta & Deshpande (2004).
42 When taking a total availability of water below 1300m3 per capita per year as a benchmark for water amount required for a balanced diet.
43 Gornall et al. (2010). Consistent with increased precipitation during the wet season for the 2050s, with significantly higher flows in July, August and September than in
2000. Increase in overall mean annual soil moisture content is expected for 2050 with respect to 1970–2000, but the soil is also subject to drought conditions for an increased
length of time.
44 Gerten et al. (2011). For a global warming of approximately 3°C above pre-industrial and the SRES A2 population scenario for 2080.
45 Rodell, Velicogna, & Famiglietti (2009). (Döll, 2009; Green et al., 2011).
46 Nelson et al. (2010).
47 Lloyd et al. (2011). South Asia by 2050 for a warming of approximately 2°C above pre-industrial (SRES A2).
48 Pandey (2010). 116,000 additional incidents, 1.8°C increase in SRES A2 scenario.
49 McMichael et al. (2008).
50 Takahashi, Honda, & Emori (2007), global mean warming for the 2090s of about 3.3°C above pre-industrial under the SRES A1B scenario and estimated an increase in
the daily maximum temperature change over South Asia in the range of 2 to 3°C.

International Energy Agency
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison
Project
June July August
Model for the Assessment of Greenhouse-gas
Induced Climate Change
Mountain Glaciers and Ice Caps
Northern Hemisphere
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development
Palmer Drought Severity Index
parts per million
Representative Concentration Pathway
Simple Climate Model
Sea-level Rise
IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios
IPCC Special Report on Managing the Risks
of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance
Climate Change Adaptation
Sub-Saharan Africa
United Nations Environment Programme
United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change
United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office
United States Agency for International
Development
World Bank Group

xxxi

Glossary
Aridity Index The Aridity Index (AI) is an indicator designed for
identifying structurally “arid” regions, that is, regions with a
long-term average precipitation deficit. AI is defined as total
annual precipitation divided by potential evapotranspiration,
with the latter a measure of the amount of water a representative
crop type would need as a function of local conditions such as
temperature, incoming radiation and wind speed, over a year
to grow, which is a standardized measure of water demand.
Biome A biome is a large geographical area of distinct plant and
animal groups, one of a limited set of major habitats, classified
by climatic and predominant vegetative types. Biomes include,
for example, grasslands, deserts, evergreen or deciduous
forests, and tundra. Many different ecosystems exist within
each broadly defined biome, which all share the limited range
of climatic and environmental conditions within that biome.
C3/C4 plants refers to two types of photosynthetic biochemical
“pathways”. C3 plants include more than 85 percent of plants
on Earth (e.g. most trees, wheat, rice, yams and potatoes) and
respond well to moist conditions and to additional carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere. C4 plants (for example savanna
grasses, maize, sorghum, millet, sugarcane) are more efficient
in water and energy use and outperform C3 plants in hot and
dry conditions.
CAT The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) is an independent sciencebased assessment, which tracks the emission commitments
and actions by individual countries. The estimates of future
emissions deducted from this assessment serve to analyse
warming scenarios that would result from current policy:
(a) CAT Reference BAU: a lower reference ‘business-as-usual’
(BAU) scenario that includes existing climate policies, but not
pledged emission reductions; and (b) CAT Current Pledges:

a scenario additionally incorporating reductions currently
pledged internationally by countries.
CMIP5 The Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5
(CMIP5) brought together 20 state-of-the-art GCM groups,
which generated a large set of comparable climate-projections
data. The project provided a framework for coordinated climate
change experiments and includes simulations for assessment
in the IPCC´s AR5.
CO2 fertilization The CO2 fertilization effect may increase the rate
of photosynthesis mainly in C3 plants and increase water use
efficiency, thereby producing increases in agricultural C3 crops
in grain mass and/or number. This effect may to some extent
offset the negative impacts of climate change, although grain
protein content may decline. Long-term effects are uncertain
as they heavily depend on a potential physiological long-term
acclimation to elevated CO2, as well as on other limiting factors
including soil nutrients, water and light.
GCM A General Circulation Model is the most advanced type
of climate model used for projecting changes in climate due
to increasing greenhouse-gas concentrations, aerosols and
external forcings like changes in solar activity and volcanic
eruptions. These models contain numerical representations
of physical processes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere
and land surface on a global three-dimensional grid, with
the current generation of GCMs having a typical horizontal
resolution of 100 to 300 km.
GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is the sum of the gross value
added by all resident producers in the economy plus any
product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the
value of the products. It is calculated without deductions for
xxxiii

depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources.
GDP (PPP) per capita is GDP on a purchasing power parity basis
divided by population. Please note: Whereas PPP estimates for
OECD countries are quite reliable, PPP estimates for developing countries are often rough approximations.
Hyper-aridity Land areas with very low Aridity Index (AI), generally coinciding with the great deserts. There is no universally
standardized value for hyper-aridity, and values between 0 and
0.05 are classified in this report as hyper-arid.
IPCC AR4, AR5 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) is the leading body of global climate change assessments. It comprises hundreds of leading scientists worldwide
and on a regular basis publishes assessment reports which
give a comprehensive overview over the most recent scientific,
technical and socio-economic information on climate change
and its implications. The Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) was
published in 2007. The upcoming Fifth Assessment Report
(AR5) will be completed in 2013/2014.
ISI-MIP The first Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison
Project (ISI-MIP) is a community-driven modeling effort which
provides cross-sectoral global impact assessments, based on
the newly developed climate [Representative Concentration
Pathways (RCPs)] and socio-economic scenarios. More than
30 models across five sectors (agriculture, water resources,
biomes, health and infrastructure) participated in this modeling exercise.
MAGICC Carbon-cycle/climate model of “reduced complexity,” here
applied in a probabilistic set-up to provide “best-guess” globalmean warming projections, with uncertainty ranges related to
the uncertainties in carbon-cycle, climate system and climate
sensitivity. The model is constrained by historical observations
of hemispheric land/ocean temperatures and historical estimates
for ocean heat-uptake, reliably determines the atmospheric
burden of CO2 concentrations compared to high-complexity
carbon-cycle models and is also able to project global-mean
near-surface warming in line with estimates made by GCMs.
Pre-industrial levels (what it means to have present 0.8°C
warming) The instrumental temperature records show that
the 20-year average of global-mean near-surface air temperature in 1986–2005 was about 0.6°C higher than the average
over 1851–1879. There are, however, considerable year-toyear variations and uncertainties in data. In addition the
20-year average warming over 1986–2005 is not necessarily
xxxiv

representative of present-day warming. Fitting a linear trend over
the period 1901 to 2010 gives a warming of 0.8°C since “early
industrialization.” Global-mean near-surface air temperatures
in the instrumental records of surface-air temperature have
been assembled dating back to about 1850. The number of
measurement stations in the early years is small and increases
rapidly with time. Industrialization was well on its way by
1850 and 1900, which implies using 1851–1879 as a base
period, or 1901 as a start for linear trend analysis might lead
to an underestimate of current and future warming, but global
greenhouse-gas emissions at the end of the 19th century were
still small and uncertainties in temperature reconstructions
before this time are considerably larger.
RCP Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) are based on
carefully selected scenarios for work on integrated assessment
modeling, climate modeling, and modeling and analysis of
impacts. Nearly a decade of new economic data, information
about emerging technologies, and observations of environmental
factors, such as land use and land cover change, are reflected in
this work. Rather than starting with detailed socioeconomic storylines to generate emissions scenarios, the RCPs are consistent
sets of projections of only the components of radiative forcing
(the change in the balance between incoming and outgoing
radiation to the atmosphere caused primarily by changes in
atmospheric composition) that are meant to serve as input for
climate modeling. These radiative forcing trajectories are not
associated with unique socioeconomic or emissions scenarios,
and instead can result from different combinations of economic,
technological, demographic, policy, and institutional futures.
RCP2.6 RCP2.6 refers to a scenario which is representative of the
literature on mitigation scenarios aiming to limit the increase
of global mean temperature to 2°C above the pre-industrial
period. This emissions path is used by many studies that are
being assessed for the IPCC´s Fifth Assessment Report and is
the underlying low emissions scenario for impacts assessed in
other parts of this report. In this report we refer to the RCP2.6
as a 2°C World.
RCP8.5 RCP8.5 refers to a scenario with no-climate-policy baseline
with comparatively high greenhouse gas emissions which is
used by many studies that are being assessed for the upcoming
IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). This scenario is also the
underlying high emissions scenario for impacts assessed in
other parts of this report. In this report we refer to the RCP8.5
as a 4°C World above the pre-industrial period.
Severe & extreme Indicating uncommon (negative) consequences.
These terms are often associated with an additional qualifier

G lossary

like “unusual” or “unprecedented” that has a specific quantified meaning (see “Unusual & unprecedented”).
SRES The Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES), published
by the IPCC in 2000, has provided the climate projections for
the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). They do not include mitigation assumptions. The SRES study includes consideration of 40
different scenarios, each making different assumptions about
the driving forces determining future greenhouse gas emissions.
Scenarios are grouped into four families, corresponding to a
wide range of high and low emission scenarios.
SREX In 2012 the IPCC published a special report on Managing
the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate
Change Adaptation (SREX). The report provides an assessment
of the physical as well as social factors shaping vulnerability to
climate-related disasters and gives an overview of the potential
for effective disaster risk management.

Unusual & unprecedented In this report, unusual and unprecedented heat extremes are defined using thresholds based
on the historical variability of the current local climate. The
absolute level of the threshold thus depends on the natural
year-to-year variability in the base period (1951–1980), which
is captured by the standard deviation (sigma). Unusual heat
extremes are defined as 3-sigma events. For a normal distribution, 3-sigma events have a return time of 740 years. The
2012 U.S. heat wave and the 2010 Russian heat wave classify
as 3-sigma and thus unusual events. Unprecedented heat
extremes are defined as 5-sigma events. They have a return
time of several million years. Monthly temperature data do
not necessarily follow a normal distribution (for example,
the distribution can have “long” tails, making warm events
more likely) and the return times can be different from the
ones expected in a normal distribution. Nevertheless, 3-sigma
events are extremely unlikely and 5-sigma events have almost
certainly never occurred.

xxxv

Chapter

1

Introduction
A 4°C world by the end of the century remains a real risk. The updated United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions
Gap Report, released at the Climate Convention Conference in Doha in December 2012, found that present emission trends
and pledges are consistent with emission pathways that reach warming in the range of 3.5°C to 5°C by 2100 (UNEP 2012)
(Box 1.1). This outlook is higher than that of Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided,6 which estimated
that current pledges, if fully implemented, would likely lead to warming exceeding 3°C before 2100. Several lines of evidence
indicate that emissions are likely to be higher than those that would result from present pledges, as estimated in Turn Down
the Heat in 2012. Apart from the 2012 UNEP Gap report, the Turn Down The Heat report includes recent estimates derived
from a large set of energy sector economic models. Estimates of present trends and policies come from the International
Energy Agency (IEA) World Energy Outlook 2012 report. Based on the IEA current policy scenario, in the absence of further
mitigation action, a 4°C warming above pre-industrial levels within this century is a real possibility with a 40 percent chance
of warming exceeding 4°C by 2100 and a 10 percent chance of it exceeding 5°C (International Energy Agency 2012).7
One of the key conclusions of Turn Down the Heat was that
the impacts of climate change would not be evenly distributed
(Box 1.2). In a 4°C world, climate change is expected to affect
societies across the globe. As is illustrated in Figure 1.1, temperatures do not increase uniformly relative to present-day conditions
and sea levels do not rise evenly. Impacts are both distributed and
felt disproportionately toward the tropics and among the poor.
This report provides a better understanding of the distribution
of impacts in a 4°C world by looking at how different regions—SubSaharan Africa, South East Asia, and South Asia—are projected
to experience climate change. While such climate events as heat
waves are expected to occur across the globe, geographic and
socioeconomic conditions produce particular vulnerabilities in
different regions. Vulnerability here is broadly understood as a
function of exposure to climate change and its impacts and the
extent to which populations are able to cope with these impacts.8
Specific climate impacts form the basis of each regional
assessment:
• Sub-Saharan Africa heavily relies on agriculture as a source
of food and income. Ninety-seven percent of agricultural

production is currently rainfed. This leaves the region highly
vulnerable to the consequences of changes in precipitation
patterns, temperature, and atmospheric CO2 concentration
for agricultural production.
• South East Asia, with its archipelagic landscape and a large
proportion of the population living in low-lying deltaic and
coastal regions (where a number of large cities are located),
is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of sea-level rise.
South East Asia is also home to highly bio-diverse marine
wildlife and many coastal livelihoods depend on the goods

6

Hereafter referred to as Turn Down the Heat.
This report analyzes a range of scenarios that includes a recent IEA analysis,
as well as current and planned national climate policies, and makes projections of
warming that are quantified in Chapter 2. In contrast, the previous report (World
Bank 2012) used an illustrative “policy” scenario that has relatively ambitious proposed
reductions by individual countries for 2020, as well as for 2050, and thus suggests
that there is only a 20 percent likelihood of exceeding 4°C by 2100.
8 IPCC (2007) defines vulnerability as “the degree to which geophysical, biological
and socio-economic systems are susceptible to, and unable to cope with, adverse
impacts of climate change”.
7

Box 1.1 Definition of Warming Levels and Base Period in this Report
This report and the previous Turn Down the Heat report referenced future global-warming levels against the pre-industrial period. A “2°C
World” and a “4°C World” is defined as the increase in global-mean near-surface air temperature above pre-industrial climate by the end of
the 21st century. This approach is customary in the international policy debate, including the UNFCCC, as well as in scientific assessments
closely related to this debate, such as those produced by the IEA (World Energy Outlooks) and UNEP (UNEP Emissions Gap Reports). By
contrast, IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report expressed warming projections relative to an increase in the mean over the period 1980–1999,
while the upcoming Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) uses 1986–2005 as a base period. Given observed warming from pre-industrial levels
to 1986–2005 of about 0.7°C, all projections in AR5 would thus be around 0.7°C “lower” than those shown in this report for the same emission
scenarios and impact levels. In other words a “4°C world” scenario in 2100 in this report would be a world 3.3°C warmer than 1986–2005 in
the AR5. See further details in Appendix 1.
In addition, while projections in this report often refer to projections around the year 2100, it is also common to refer to averages for
the 20 years around 2090, as is often done in many impact assessments and in the IPCC. In this case a 4°C scenario in 2100 would be about
a 3.5°C scenario above pre-industrial for the 2080–2099 period, given the projected rate of warming in such scenarios of 0.5°C/decade by the
end of the century. This scenario would thus be only 2.8°C warmer than the 1986–2005 base period by the 2080–2099 period yet it would be
identical with the “4°C world” scenario in this report. While different base and averaging periods are used to describe the climate changes resulting from the same underlying emissions scenarios, it is important to realize that the concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases and aerosols in a given year or period are not changed, nor is the nature of the impacts described.

Box 1.2 Extreme Events 2012–2013
During the last year, extreme events have been witnessed across the globe. A particular high-temperature event at a particular place cannot be attributed one-on-one to anthropogenic climate change, but the likelihood of such events is projected to increase, in particular in the
tropics where local year-to-year variations are smaller. Although below-average temperatures were recorded over Alaska and northern and
eastern Australia, high temperatures occurred over North America, southern Europe, most of Asia, and parts of northern Africa. Across the
United States, the number of broken temperature records in 2012 doubled compared to the August 2011 heat wave. Extremes in other climate
variables can occur in tandem with heat events, such as the extreme drought accompanying this year’s heat wave in the US, which extended
into northern Mexico. The drought in northern Brazil was the worst in 50 years.
By contrast, countries in Africa, including Tanzania, Nigeria, Niger, and Chad, experienced severe flooding because of an unusually active African monsoon season. Devastating floods impacted Pakistan as well, with more than 5 million people and 400,000 hectares of crops
estimated to have been affected. Even in some areas of above-average warming, early in the year several unusually cold spells were accompanied by heavy snowfall, including in northeast China and Mongolia. 2012 saw a record loss of Arctic sea ice.
The year 2012 was also an active year for tropical cyclones, with Hurricane Sandy the most noteworthy because of the high number of
lives lost and infrastructure damaged in the Caribbean and in the United States. Typhoon Sanba in East Asia was the strongest cyclone globally in 2012; it affected thousands of people in the Philippines, Japan, and the korean Peninsula.
Australia saw a severe heat wave during the Australian summer, with record temperatures and associated severe bush fires followed by
extreme rainfall and flooding. Records were continuously broken, with the hottest summer on record and the hottest seven consecutive days
ever recorded in Australia. A recent report by the Australian Climate Commission (Australian Climate Comission 2013) attributes the severity
and intensity of recorded temperatures and extreme events to anthropogenic climate change. However, no studies have been published attributing the other extreme events listed above to anthropogenic climate change.

and services offered by these ecosystems. The impacts of
sea-level rise and changes in marine conditions, therefore,
are the focus for South East Asia, with the Philippines and
Vietnam serving as examples for maritime and mainland
regions respectively.
• In South Asia, populations rely on seasonal monsoon rainfall
to meet a variety of needs, including human consumption
and irrigation. Agricultural production, an income source
for approximately 70 percent of the population, in most part
2

depends on groundwater resources being replenished by
monsoon rains. Snow and glacial melt in the mountain ranges
are the primary source of upstream freshwater for many river
basins and play an important role in providing freshwater for
the region. The variability of monsoon rainfall is expected
to increase and the supply of water from melting mountain
glaciers is expected to decline in the long term. South Asia
is, therefore, particularly vulnerable to impacts on freshwater
resources and their consequences.

I ntroduction

Figure 1.1: Projected sea-level rise and northern-hemisphere
summer heat events over land in a 2°C World (upper panel) and
a 4°C World (lower panel)a

Unusual heat extremes (3-σ, or sigma) refer to temperatures exceeding the
historical (“normal”) mean recorded in the respective area by 3 standard
deviations. Such heat extremes are highly unlikely in a stable climate: In a
normal distribution based on climate conditions from 1951–80, events warmer
than 3-sigma from the mean occur on average once in 740 years. Monthly
temperature data do not necessarily follow a normal distribution (for example,
the distribution can have “long” tails, making warm events more likely) and the
return times can be different from the ones expected in a normal distribution.
Nevertheless, 3-sigma heat extremes are extremely unlikely without climate
change. The US heat wave 2012 and the Russian heat wave 2010 classify as
unusual heat extremes, that is, 3-sigma events. However, extreme heat events
are more likely in future under climate change as the normal distribution shifts:
for example, a value of 50 percent in Figure 1.1 indicates that heat extremes
of 3-sigma or greater have a probability of occurring once every two months.
Following (Hansen, Sato, & Ruedy, 2012), the period 1951–80 is defined as
a baseline for changes in heat extremes. This baseline has the advantage of
having been a period of relatively stable global temperature, prior to rapid
global warming, and of providing sufficient observational measurements such
that the climatology is well defined. The baseline for sea-level rise projections is
the period 1986–2005.

a

This new report builds on the scientific background of the earlier
report and zooms in on the three focus regions to examine how
they are impacted by warming up to and including an increase in
global mean temperature of 4°C above pre-industrial levels in the 21st
century. The projections on changes in temperature, heat extremes,
precipitation, and aridity are based on original analysis of Coupled
Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) Global Circulation
Model (GCM) output and those of sea-level rise on CMIP5 GCMs,
semi-empirical modeling, and the “simple climate model,” the
Model for the Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Induced Climate
Change (MAGICC; see also Appendix 1 for details) (Box 1.3). The
sectoral analysis for the three regions is based on existing literature.

The report is structured as follows. Chapter 2 explores the
probability of warming reaching 4°C above pre-industrial levels
and discusses the possibility of significantly limiting global mean
warming to below 2°C. It further provides an update on global
climate impact projections for different levels of global warming. The updated analysis of the risks at the global level further
complements the 2012 report and provides a framework for the
regional case studies. Chapters 3 to 5 present analysis of climate
impacts for the three regions: Sub-Saharan Africa, South East
Asia, and South Asia.
The focus of the regional chapters is the nature of the impacts
and the associated risks posed to the populations of the regions.
The possibility of adaptation and its capacity to minimize the
vulnerability to the risks accompanying climate change is not
assessed in this report. Rather, this report sets out to provide
an overview of the challenges that human populations are
expected to face under future projected climate change due to
impacts in selected sectors. Some dimensions of vulnerability of
populations are not covered here, such as gender and the ways
in which climate change impacts may be felt differently by men
and women. Finally, while many of the findings presented in
this report may prove relevant to development policy in these
regions, this report is not intended to be prescriptive; rather, it
is intended to paint a picture of some of the challenges looming
in a 4°C world.
In this report, as in the previous one, “a 4°C world” is used as
shorthand for warming reaching 4°C above pre-industrial levels
by the end of the century. It is important to note that this does
not imply a stabilization of temperatures nor that the magnitude
of impacts is expected to peak at this level. Because of the slow
response of the climate system, the greenhouse gas emissions and
concentrations that would lead to warming of 4°C by 2100 and
associated higher risk of thresholds in the climate system being
crossed, would actually commit the world to much higher warming, exceeding 6°C or more in the long term with several meters
of sea-level rise ultimately associated with this warming (Rogelj
et al. 2012; International Energy Agency 2012; Schaeffer and van
Vuuren 2012). For a 2°C warming above pre-industrial levels,
stabilization at this level by 2100 and beyond is assumed in the
projections, although climate impacts would persist for decades,
if not centuries to come: sea-level rise, for example, would likely
reach 2.7 meters above 2000 levels by 2300 (Schaeffer, Hare,
Rahmstorf, and Vermeer 2012).
Populations across the world are already experiencing the first
of these challenges at the present level of warming of 0.8°C above
pre-industrial levels. As this report shows, further major challenges
are expected long before the end of the century in both 2°C and
a 4°C warming scenarios. Urgent action is thus needed to prevent
those impacts that are still avoidable and to adapt to those that
are already being felt and will continue to be felt for decades to
3

come. For many systems, climate change exacerbates other nonclimatic stressors such as land degradation or marine pollution.

Even without climate change, human support systems are likely
to be placed under further pressure as populations grow.

Box 1.3 Climate Change Projections, Impacts, and Uncertainty
In this report the projections of future climate change and its plausible consequences are based, necessarily, on modeling exercises. The
results discussed take into account the inherent uncertainties of model projections. The analysis of temperature and precipitation changes,
as well as heat extremes and aridity, is based on state-of-the-art Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) climate models.
Precipitation data was bias-corrected, such that it reproduces the historical mean and variation in precipitation. Results are reported as the
mean of the CMIP5 models and where relevant a measure of agreement/disagreement of models on the sign of changes is indicated. The projections might therefore provide more robust and consistent trends than a random selection of model results, even at regional scales. Results
reported from the literature are, in most cases, based on climate impact models and are likewise faced with issues about uncertainty. As with
the case for climate projections, there are limitations on the precision with which conclusions can be drawn. For this reason, conclusions are
drawn where possible, from multiple lines of evidence across a range of methods, models and data sources including the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC AR4) and the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX).

4

Chapter

2

The Global Picture
Global projections of temperature, heat extremes, and precipitation changes, as well as projections of sea-level rise, are
presented in this chapter. Drawing on the latest data from the first inter-sectoral impact model intercomparison project (ISIMIP), a number of sectoral impacts are updated. These include the risk of biome shifts and diminished water availability. The
final section of this chapter presents an initial evaluation of hotspots where impacts in multiple sectors occur and places this
evaluation in the context of the most recent literature for each sector.
In this report, the low-emissions scenario RCP2.6, a scenario
which is representative of the literature on mitigation scenarios
aiming to limit the increase of global mean temperature to 2°C
(Van Vuuren et al. 2011), is used as a proxy for a 2°C world.
The high-emissions scenario RCP8.5 is used as proxy for a 4°C
world. These emissions paths are used by many studies that
are being assessed for the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of
the IPCC. These are the underlying projections of temperature
and precipitation changes, as well as those on heat extremes
and sea-level rise in this chapter and the regional parts of
this report.

Observed Changes and Climate Sensitivity
Observations show that warming during the last decade has been
slower than earlier decades (Figure 2.1). This is likely the result of
a temporary slowdown or “hiatus” in global warming and a natural
phenomenon (Easterling and Wehner 2009; Meehl et al. 2011). Slower
and faster decades of warming occur regularly superimposed on an
overall warming trend (Foster and Rahmstorf 2011). ­­­­Evaluating all
major influences that determine global mean temperature changes,
Foster and Rahmstorf (2011) show that over the past decade the
underlying trend in warming continued unabated, if one filters
out the effects of ENSO, solar variations, and volcanic activity.9
One of the basic tests of a model is whether it is able to
reproduce observed changes: recent analysis shows clearly that
in both the IPCC’s Third and Fourth Assessment Reports climate

model warming projections match observations very well.
(Figure 2.2) (Foster and Rahmstorf (2011).
The recent slower warming has led to media attention that
suggests the sensitivity of the climate system to anthropogenic
emissions might be smaller than estimated previously.10 However,
an overall review of climate sensitivity that takes into account multiple lines of evidence, including methodologies that result in low
climate sensitivity estimates and other studies that show instead a
larger estimate of sensitivity (Knutti and Hegerl 2008), results in
values for climate sensitivity consistent with IPCC’s AR4: “most
likely” around 3°C, a 90 percent probability of larger than 1.5°C,
“very likely” in the range of 2–4.5°C; values substantially higher
than 4.5°C cannot be ruled out.

9

This can be explained by natural external forcings, like those of solar and volcanic
origin, and physical mechanisms within the climate system itself, with a large role
played by the El Niño/La Niña-Southern-Oscillation (ENSO), a pattern of natural
fluctuations in heat transfer between the ocean’s surface and deeper layers. If such
fluctuations are filtered out of the observations, a robust continued warming signal
emerges over the past three decades. It is this signal that should be compared to the
average warming of climate models, because the latter exhibit the same upswings
and downswings of warming as the observational signal, but at different times, due
to the natural chaotic nature of the climate system. Taking an average from many
models filters out these random variations; hence, this must also be done with
observational data sets before comparing with model results.

10 Recently, one such study that resulted in a value around 2°C, much like other

Box 2.1 Climate Sensitivity
Climate sensitivity (more specifically equilibrium climate sensitivity [ECS]) is defined as the change in global mean surface
temperature at equilibrium following a doubling of atmospheric
carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. It is a measure of the longterm response of the climate system to a sustained increase in
radiativea forcing.
Research efforts are continuing to better constrain ECS.
Recent studies indicate that both the high end (Fasullo and
Trenberth 2012) and the low end (Amundsen and Lie 2012)
cannot be excluded, while the current range of results for the
most advanced climate models (Andrews et al. 2012) and
reconstructions of climatic records over the last 65 million years
(E. J. Rohling et al. 2012) confirm the “likely” range given in the
AR4 assessment.
The probabilistic global mean climate projections in this section consider the AR4 assessment as still being representative of
our current understanding of the ECS and use an intermediate
(that is, neither the most optimistic nor the most conservative)
interpretation of it (Rogelj et al. 2012b). Note that in projections
from more complex models (such as the CMIP5 models analyzed
for temperature, precipitation, and aridity projections in this
report), climate sensitivity is not a predefined model parameter
but is emerging from all the feedback processes included in the
model.
In the context of climate change, the IPCC AR4 defines this as
“a measure of the influence a factor has in altering the balance of
incoming and outgoing energy in the Earth-atmosphere system and is
an index of the importance of the factor as a potential climate change
mechanism.”

a

Unlike global warming, for sea-level rise, the models consistently underestimate the accelerating rise in sea levels compared to observations (Figure 2.3). Along with observations,
Figure 2.3 shows projections for sea-level rise by ice-sheet and
ocean models reported in the IPCC’s Third and Fourth Assessment
Reports. Remarkably, the models are not able to keep pace with
observed sea-level rise, which rises 60-percent faster compared
to the best estimates from models. This mismatch initiated the
development of “semi-empirical” models (e.g., Rahmstorf 2007;
Kemp et al. 2011) that constrain model parameters by centuries
to millennia of observations.11 Based on these parameters, such
models project changes that by 2100 are generally higher than
the process-based models by around 30–50 percent (see World
Bank 2012 for more background).

How Likely is a 4°C World?
The previous Turn Down the Heat report estimated that current
emission reductions pledges by countries worldwide, if fully
implemented, would likely lead to warming exceeding 3°C
before 2100.
New assessments of business-as-usual emissions in the absence
of strong climate mitigation policies (Riahi et al. 2013; Kriegler et
al. 2013; Schaeffer et al. 2013), as well as recent reevaluations of
the likely emission consequences of pledges and targets adopted

The blue range represents model results from IPCC Third Assessment Report
and the green range from IPCC AR4.
Source: Adapted from Rahmstorf et al. (2012).
11 Data dating back more than about 150 years is generally from reconstructions of

warming would be either lower than 4.2°C or higher than 6.5°C
by 2100.14 On average, the most recent business-as-usual scenarios
lead to warming projections close to those of RCP8.5 and there is a
medium chance that end-of-century temperature rise exceeds 4°C.
Approximately 30 percent of the most recent business-as-usual
scenarios reach a warming higher than that associated with
RCP8.5 by 2100 (see Figure 2.4, right-hand panel).

Can Warming be Held Below 2°C?

Models do not include a sea-level decline due to dam building estimated
for 1961–2003 that is part of the observed time series. Including this in the
models would widen the gap with observations further, although this is likely fully
compensated by increased groundwater extraction during the last 2 decades
Source: Adapted from Rahmstorf et al. (2012).

by countries, point to a considerable likelihood of warming reaching 4°C above pre-industrial levels within this century. The latest
research supports both of these findings (see Appendix 1):
The most recent generation of energy-economic models
estimates emissions in the absence of further substantial policy
action (business as usual), with the median projections reaching
a warming of 4.7°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100, with
a 40 percent chance of exceeding 5°C (Schaeffer et al. 2013). Newly
published assessments of the recent trends in the world’s energy
system by the International Energy Agency in its World Energy
Outlook 2012 indicate global-mean warming above pre-industrial
levels would approach 3.8°C by 2100. In this assessment, there
is a 40 percent chance of warming exceeding 4°C by 2100 and
a 10 percent chance of it exceeding 5°C.
In relation to the effects of pledges, the updated UNEP Emissions Gap Assessment 2012, found that present emission trends
and pledges are consistent with emission pathways that reach
warming in the range of 3 to 5°C by 2100, with global emissions
estimated for 2020 closest to levels consistent with a pathway
leading to 3.5–4°C warming by 2100.12
The high emissions scenario underlying novel assessments,
RCP8.5, reaches a global-mean warming level of about 4°C above
pre-industrial levels by the 2080s and gives a median warming of
about 5°C by 2100.13
According to new analysis (see Appendix 1), there is a 66-percent likelihood that emissions consistent with RCP8.5 will lead to
a warming of 4.2 to 6.5°C, and a remaining 33-percent chance that

State-of-the-art climate models show that, if emissions are
reduced substantially, there is a high probability that global
mean temperatures can be held to below 2°C relative to preindustrial levels. Climate policy has to date not succeeded in
curbing global greenhouse gas emissions, and emissions are
steadily rising (Peters et al. 2013). However, recent high emission trends do not imply high emissions forever (van Vuuren and
Riahi 2008). Several studies show that effective climate policies
can substantially influence the trend and bring emissions onto a
feasible path in line with a high probability of limiting warming
to below 2°C, even with limited emissions reductions in the short
term (for example, OECD 2012; Rogelj et al. 2012a; UNEP 2012;
van Vliet et al. 2012; Rogelj et al. 2013). The available scientific
literature makes a strong case that achieving deep emissions
reductions over the long term is feasible; reducing total global
emissions to below 50 percent of 2000 levels by 2050 (Clarke et
al. 2009; Fischedick et al. 2011; Riahi et al. 2012). Recent studies also show the possibility, together with the consequences of
delaying action (den Elzen et al. 2010; OECD 2012; Rogelj et al.
2012a, 2013; van Vliet et al. 2012).

Patterns of Climate Change
This report presents projections of global and regional temperature
and precipitation conditions, as well as expected changes in aridity
and in the frequency of severe heat extremes. These analyses are
based on the ISI-MIP database (Warszawski et al., in preparation),
consisting of a subset of the state-of-the-art climate model projections
of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5; K.
E. Taylor, Stouffer, and Meehl, 2011) that were bias-corrected against
late twentieth century meteorological observations (Hempel, Frieler,

12 This applies for the “unconditional pledges, strict rules” case.
13 RCP refers to “Representative Concentrations Pathway,” which underlies the

IPCC´s Fifth Assessment Report. RCPs are consistent sets of projections for only the
components of radiative forcing (the change in the balance between incoming and
outgoing radiation to the atmosphere caused primarily by changes in atmospheric
composition) that are meant to serve as inputs for climate modeling. See also Box 1,
“What are Emission Scenarios?” on page 22 of the previous report.
14 A probability of >66 percent is labeled “likely” in IPCC’s uncertainty guidelines
adopted here.

The left-hand panel shows probabilistic projections by the Simple Climate Model (SCM; see Appendix 1). Lines show “best-estimate” (median) projections for each
emission scenario, while shaded areas indicate the 66 percent uncertainty range. The shaded ranges represent the uncertainties in how emissions are translated into
atmospheric concentrations (carbon cycle uncertainty) and how the climate system responds to these increased concentrations (climate system uncertainty). The righthand panel shows projections of temperature increase for the scenarios assessed in this report in the context of business-as-usual (BAU) projections from the recent
Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) literature discussed in the Appendix. The light-red shaded area indicates the 66 percent uncertainty range around the median (red
dashed line) of BAU projections from 10 IAMs.

Warszawski, Schewe and Piontek 2013; see also Appendix 2). The
latter refers to a method of letting the models provide more accurate
future projections on a global, as well as on a regional (subcontinental)
scale. The patterns of change in this subset of models are shown to
be consistent with published CMIP5 multi-model mean changes for
temperature, precipitation, and heat extremes. Following Hansen,
Sato, and Ruedy (2012), the period 1951–80 is defined as a baseline
for changes in heat extremes. This baseline has the advantage of
having been a period of relatively stable global temperature, prior
to rapid global warming, and of providing sufficient observational
measurements such that the climatology is well defined. The baseline
for sea-level rise projections is the period 1986–2005.
This chapter discusses the results from a global perspective;
the following three chapters look at three selected regions: SubSaharan Africa, South East Asia, and South Asia. The focus is on
changes expected during the summer, as this is the season when
climate change is expected to have the greatest impact on human
populations in many regions (Hansen, Sato, and Ruedy 2012).

Figure 2.5: Temperature projections for global land area

Temperature projections for global land area, for the multi-model mean
(thick lines), and individual models (thin lines), under scenarios RCP2.6 and
RCP8.5 for the months of June, July, and August (JJA). The multi-model mean
has been smoothed to give the climatological trend.

Projected Temperature Changes
Under scenario RCP2.6, global average land surface temperatures
for the months June, July, August peak at approximately 2°C above
the 1951–80 baseline by 2050 and remain at this level until the end
of the century (Figure 2.5). The high emissions scenario RCP8.5 follows a temperature trajectory similar to that of RCP2.6 until 2020,
but starts to deviate upwards strongly after 2030. Warming continues to increase until the end of the century with global-mean land
surface temperature for the northern hemisphere summer reaching
nearly 6.5°C above the 1951–80 baseline by 2100. Note that these
10

values are higher than the associated global mean temperature
anomalies since warming is more pronounced over land than ocean.
Warming is generally stronger in the Northern Hemisphere, a
pattern which is found for both emissions scenarios and for both
the summer and winter seasons (see Figure 2.6 for JJA). This is a
well-documented feature of global warming. Thus, Northern Hemisphere summers are expected to typically warm by 2–3°C under
RCP2.6 and by 6.5–8°C under RCP8.5. As shown in the previous
report, regions that see especially strong absolute warming include
the Mediterranean, the western United States, and northern Russia.

Temperature anomalies in degrees Celsius (top row) are averaged over the time period 2071–99 relative to 1951–80, and normalized by the local standard deviation
(bottom row).

A good way to gain appreciation of the warming is to compare
it to the historically observed natural year-to-year temperature
variability (Hansen et al. 2012). The absolute warming is thus
divided (normalized) by the local standard deviation (sigma),
which represents the normal year-to-year changes in monthly
temperature because of natural variability (see the box 2.2). A
normalized warming of 5-sigma, therefore, means that the average change in the climate is five times larger than the current
normal year-to-year variability. In the tropics, natural variability
is small (with typical standard deviations of less than 1°C), so the
normalized warming peaks in the tropics (Figure 2.6), although
the absolute warming is generally larger in the Northern Hemisphere extra-tropics. Under a high-emissions scenario (RCP8.5),
the expected 21st century warming in tropical regions in Africa,
South America, and Asia shifts the temperature distribution by
more than six standard deviations (Fig. 2.2.1.2). A similarly large
shift is projected for some localized extra-tropical regions, including
the eastern Mediterranean, the eastern United States, Mexico, and
parts of central Asia. Such a large normalized warming implies a
totally new climatic regime in these regions by the end of the 21st
century, with the coldest months substantially warmer than the
hottest months experienced during 1951–80. The extent of the
land area projected to shift into a new climatic regime (that is,

a warming by six standard deviations or more) is dramatically
reduced when emissions are limited to the RCP2.6 scenario.
Under such a low-emissions scenario, only localized regions
in eastern tropical Africa and South East Asia are projected to
see substantial normalized warming up to about four standard
deviations. In some regions, non-linear climate feedbacks seem to
play a role in causing warming under RCP8.5 to be much larger
than under RCP2.6. The eastern Mediterranean region illustrates
this situation. It warms by ~3°C (or ~2 sigma) under the lowemissions scenario compared to ~8°C (or ~6 sigma) under the
high-emissions scenario.

Projected Changes in Heat Extremes
A thorough assessment of extreme events by the IPCC (2012) concludes that it is very likely that the length, frequency, and intensity
of heat waves will increase over most land areas under future
climate warming, with more warming resulting in more extremes.
The following quantifies how much a low emission scenario
(RCP2.6) would limit the increase in frequency and intensity of
future heat waves as compared to RCP8.5.
Several studies have documented the expected increase in
heat extremes under a business-as-usual (BAU) emissions scenario
11

or in simulations with a doubling of CO2 (typically resulting in
~3°C global mean warming). Without exception, these show that
heat extremes, whether on daily or seasonal time scales, greatly
increase under high-emissions scenarios. The intensity of extremely
hot days, with a return time of 20 years,15 is expected to increase
between 5°C and 10°C over continents, with the larger values
over North and South America and Eurasia related to substantial
decreases in regional soil moisture there (Zwiers and Kharin 1998).
The frequency of days exceeding the present-day 99th percentile
could increase by a factor of 20 (D. N. Barnett, Brown, Murphy,
Sexton, and Webb 2005). Moreover, the intensity, duration, and
frequency of three-day heat events is projected to significantly
increase—by up to 3°C in the Mediterranean and the western and
southern United States (G. A. Meehl and Tebaldi 2004). Studying
the 2003 European heat wave, Schär et al. (2004) project that
toward the end of the century approximately every second European
summer is likely to be warmer than the 2003 event. On a global
scale, extremely hot summers are also robustly predicted to become
much more common (D. N. Barnett, Brown, Murphy, Sexton, and
Webb 2005b). Therefore, the intensity, duration, and frequency of
summer heat waves are expected to be substantially greater over
all continents, with the largest increases over Europe, North and
South America, and East Asia (Clark, Brown, and Murphy 2006).
In this and in the previous report, threshold-exceeding heat
extremes are analyzed with the threshold defined by the historical
observed variability (see Box 2.2). For this definition of extremes,

regions that are characterized by high levels of warming combined
with low levels of historical variability tend to see the strongest
increase in extremes (Sillmann and Kharin 2013a). The approach
is useful because ecosystems and humans are adapted to local
climatic conditions and infrastructure is designed with local climatic conditions and its historic variations in mind. Thus even
a relatively small change in temperature in the tropics can have
relatively large impacts, for example if coral reefs experience temperatures exceeding their sensitivity thresholds (see, for example,
Chapter 4 on “Projected Impacts on Coral Reefs”).
An alternative approach would be to study extremes exceeding
an absolute threshold, independent of the past variability. This is
mostly relevant when studying impacts on specific sectors where
the exceedance of some specific threshold is known to cause severe
impacts. For example, wheat growth in India has been shown to
be very sensitive to temperatures greater than 34°C (Lobell, Sibley, & Ortiz-Monasterio, 2012). As this report is concerned with
impacts across multiple sectors, thresholds defined by the local
climate variability are considered to be the most relevant index.
This report analyzes the timing of the increase in monthly
heat extremes and their patterns by the end of the 21st century for
both the low-emission (RCP2.6 or a 2°C world) and high-emission
(RCP8.5 or a 4°C world) scenarios. In a 2°C world, the bulk of

15 This means that there is a 0.5 probability of this event occurring in any given year.

Box 2.2 Heat Extremes
In sections assessing extremes, this report defines two types of extremes using thresholds based on the historical variability of the current
local climate (similar to Hansen et al. 2012). The absolute level of the threshold thus depends on the natural year-to-year variability in the base
period (1951–1980), which is captured by the standard deviation (sigma).

3-sigma Events – Three Standard Deviations Outside the Normal
• Highly unusual at present
• Extreme monthly heat
• Projected to become the norm over most continental areas by the end of the 21st century

5-sigma Events – Five Standard Deviations Outside the Normal
• Essentially absent at present
• Unprecedented monthly heat: new class of monthly heat extremes
• Projected to become common, especially in the tropics and in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) mid-latitudes during summertime
For a normal distribution, 3-sigma events have a return time of 740 years. The 2012 U.S. heat wave and the 2010 Russian heat wave classify as 3-sigma events (Coumou & Robinson, submitted). 5-sigma events have a return time of several million years. Monthly temperature data
do not necessarily follow a normal distribution (for example, the distribution can have “long” tails, making warm events more likely) and the
return times can be different from the ones expected in a normal distribution. Nevertheless, 3-sigma events are extremely unlikely and 5-sigma
events have almost certainly never occurred over the lifetime of key ecosystems and human infrastructure.a
a

12

Note that the analysis performed here does not make assumptions about the underlying probability distribution.

T he G lobal P icture

the increase in monthly extremes, as projected for a 4°C world by
the end of the century, would be avoided. Although unusual heat
extremes (beyond 3-sigma) would still become substantially more
common over extended regions, unprecedented extremes (beyond
the 5-sigma threshold) would remain essentially absent over most
continents. The patterns of change are similar to those described
for a 4°C world, but the frequency of threshold-exceeding extremes
is strongly reduced. It is only in some localized tropical regions
that a strong increase in frequency compared to the present day is
expected (see the regional chapters). In these regions, specifically
in western tropical Africa (see Chapter 3 on “Regional Patterns of
Climate Change”) and South East Asia (see Chapter 5 on “Regional
Patterns of Climate Change”), summer months with unusual temperatures become dominant, occurring in about 60–80 percent of
years, and extremes of unprecedented temperatures become regular
(about 20–30 percent of years) by the end of the century.
In parallel with the increase in global mean temperature, in
a 2°C world the percentage of land area with unusual temperatures
steadily increases until 2050; it then plateaus at around 20 percent,
as shown in Figure 2.7. On a global scale, the land area affected
by northern hemisphere summer months with unprecedented
temperatures remains relatively small (at less than 5 percent). This
implies that, in the near term, extremes would increase manifold
compared to today even under the low-emissions scenario. In a 4°C
world, the land area experiencing extreme heat would continue to
increase until the end of the century. This results in unprecedented
monthly heat covering approximately 60 percent of the global land
area by 2100. Although these analyses are based on a new set of
climate models (that is, those used in ISI-MIP—see Appendix 2),
the projections for a 4°C world are quantitatively consistent with
the results published in the previous report.
Under RCP8.5 (or a 4°C world), the annual frequency of warm
nights beyond the 90th percentile increases to between 50–95 percent, depending on region, by the end of the century (Sillmann
and Kharin 2013a). Under RCP2.6 (or a 2°C world), the frequency
of warm nights remains limited to between 20–60 percent, with
the highest increases in tropical South East Asia and the Amazon
region (Sillmann and Kharin 2013a). Extremes, expressed as an
exceedance of a particular percentile threshold derived from natural
variability in the base period, show the highest increase in tropical
regions, where interannual temperature variability is relatively
small. Under RCP8.5, the duration of warm spells, defined as the
number of consecutive days beyond the 90th percentile (Sillmann
and Kharin 2013b), increases in tropical regions to more than 300,
occurring essentially year round (Sillmann and Kharin 2013a).

Precipitation Projections
On a global scale, warming of the lower atmosphere strengthens
the hydrological cycle, mainly because warmer air can hold more

Figure 2.7: Multi-model mean (thick line) and individual
models (thin lines) of the percentage of global land area
warmer than 3-sigma (top) and 5-sigma (bottom) during boreal
summer months (JJA) for scenarios RCP2.6 and RCP8.5

water vapor (Coumou and Rahmstorf 2012). This strengthening
causes dry regions to become drier and wet regions to become
wetter (Trenberth 2010). There are other important mechanisms,
however, such as changes in circulation patterns and aerosol forcing, which may lead to strong deviations from this general picture.
Increased atmospheric water vapor can also amplify extreme
precipitation (Sillmann and Kharin 2013a).
Although modest improvements have been reported in the precipitation patterns simulated by the state-of-the-art CMIP5 models
(Kelley, Ting, Seager, and Kushnir 2012; Jia & DelSole 2012; Zhang
and Jin 2012) as compared to the previous generation (CMIP3),
substantial uncertainty remains. This report therefore only provides changes in precipitation patterns on annual and seasonal
timescales. The ISI-MIP models used were bias-corrected such
that they reproduce the observed historical mean and variation in
precipitation. The projections might therefore also provide more
robust and consistent trends on regional scales.
The expected change in annual mean precipitation by 2071–
99 relative to 1951–80 is shown in Figure 2.8 for RCP2.6 (a 2°C
13

world) and RCP8.5 (a 4°C world). Across the globe, most dry areas
get drier and most wet areas get wetter. The patterns of change in
precipitation are geographically similar under the low and high
emissions scenarios, but the magnitude is much larger in the latter. Under the weak climatic forcing in a 2°C world, precipitation
changes are relatively small compared to natural variability, and
the models disagree in the direction of change over extended
regions. As the climatic signal in a 4°C world becomes stronger,
the models converge in their predictions showing much less
inter-model disagreement in the direction of change. Uncertainty
remains mostly in those regions at the boundary between areas
getting wetter and areas getting drier in the multi-model mean.
There are important exceptions to the dry-get-drier and wetget-wetter patterns. Firstly, arid regions in the southern Sahara
and in eastern China are expected to see more rainfall. Although
the percentage change can be greater than 50 percent, absolute
changes are still very small because of the current exceptionally
dry conditions in these regions. Secondly, in the eastern part of the
Amazon tropical rainforest, annual rainfall is likely to decrease. A
clearly highly impacted region is the Mediterranean/North African
region, which is expected to see up to 50 percent less annual rainfall
under the high-emission scenario associated with a 4°C world.
In some regions, changes in extreme precipitation are expected
to be more relevant from the point of view of impact than changes
in the annual mean. Inter-model disagreement, however, tends to
be larger for more extreme precipitation events, limiting robust
projections (Sillmann and Kharin 2013b). Still on a global scale,
total wet day precipitation and maximum five-day precipitation
are robustly projected to increase by 10 percent and 20 percent,
respectively, under RCP8.5 (Sillmann and Kharin 2013a). Regionally, the number of consecutive dry days is expected to increase in
subtropical regions and decrease in tropical and near-arctic regions
(Sillmann and Kharin 2013a). In agreement with Figures 2.6 and 2.8,

extreme indices for both temperature and precipitation (notably
consecutive dry days) stand out in the Mediterranean, indicating
a strong intensification of heat and water stress.

Sea-level Rise
Projecting sea-level rise as a consequence of climate change is
a highly difficult, complex, and controversial scientific problem,
as was discussed in the previous report. This section focuses on
briefly recapping projections at a global level and providing an
update on new findings, thus providing the global context for the
regional sea-level rise projections in Chapters 3–5.
Process-based approaches dominate sea-level rise projections.
They refer to the use of numeric models that represent the physical
processes at play, such as the CMIP5 models discussed in Chapter
2 on “Patterns of Climate Change” that form the basis for much of
the work on projected climate impacts presented in this report. Key
contributions of observed and future sea-level rise are the thermal
expansion of the ocean and the melting of mountain glaciers ice
caps, and the large ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica. In the
case of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, uncertainties in the
scientific understanding of the response to global warming lead to
less confidence in the application of ice-sheet models to sea-level
rise projections for the current century (e.g., Rahmstorf 2007).
A second approach to projecting global sea-level rise is to take
into account the observed relationship between past sea-level rise
and global mean temperature over the past millennium to project
future sea-level rise (Kemp et al. 2011; Schaeffer et al. 2012). This
“semi-empirical” approach generally leads to higher projections,
with median sea-level rise by 2081–2100 of 100 cm for RCP8.5,
with a 66 percent uncertainty range of 81–118 cm and a 90 percent range of 70–130 cm. The low-carbon pathway RCP2.6 leads

Figure 2.8: Multi-model mean of the percentage change in annual mean precipitation for RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right)
by 2071–99 relative to 1951–80

Hatched areas indicate uncertainty regions with two out of five models disagreeing on the direction of change compared to the remaining three models.

14

T he G lobal P icture

to 67 cm of SLR by that time, with a 66 percent range of 57–77 cm
and a 90 percent range of 54–98 cm. According to this analysis,
a 50 cm sea-level rise by the 2050s may be locked in whatever
action is taken now; limiting warming to 2°C may limit sea-level
rise to about 70 cm by 2100, but in a 4°C world over 100cm can
be expected, with the sea-level rise in the tropics 10–15 percent
higher than the global average. All three regions studied here have
extensive coastlines within the tropics with high concentrations
of vulnerability.
Although semi-empirical approaches have their own limitations
and challenges (for example, Lowe and Gregory 2010; Rahmstorf
et al. 2012), in this report these higher projections were adopted
as the default, noting that uncertainties are large and this report
primarily looks at the literature from a risk perspective.
Most impacts studies looking at sea-level rise focus on the
level reached by a certain time. The rate of sea-level rise is another
key indicator for risk, as well as for the long-term resilience of
ecosystems and small-island developing states (Figure 2.9). The
difference between high- and low-emissions scenarios is especially
large for this indicator by 2100 compared to sea-level rise per se.16
As explained in the previous report, sea-level rises unevenly
across the globe. A clear feature of regional projections (see
Figure 2.10) is the relatively high sea-level rise at low latitudes (in
the tropics) and below-average sea-level rise at higher latitudes
(Perrette, Landerer, Riva, Frieler, and Meinshausen 2013). This is
primarily because of the polar location of ice masses, the gravitational pull of which decreases because of the gradual melting
process and accentuates the rise in the tropics, far away from the
ice sheets. Close to the main ice-melt sources (Greenland, Arctic
Canada, Alaska, Patagonia, and Antarctica), crustal uplift and

Figure 2.10: Sea-level rise in the period 2081–2100 relative
to 1986–2005 for the high-emission scenario RCP8.5

Cities in the focus regions of this report are indicated in both this and
Figure 2.11 and labeled in the lower panel of the latter.

reduced attraction cause a below-average rise, and even a sea-level
fall in the very near-ﬁeld of a mass source.
Ocean dynamics, such as ocean currents and wind patterns,
shape the pattern of projected sea level. In particular, an aboveaverage contribution from ocean dynamics is projected along the

16 In addition, a high rate of sea-level rise by 2100 will set the stage for several

centuries of further sea-level rise, given the slow response of oceans and ice sheets,
amounting to multiple meters of SLR for the highest scenarios. Indeed, even in the
low Decline to 1.5°C scenario extended model runs (not shown) analogous to those
in Schaeffer et al. (2013) show that even with emissions fixed at year-2100 levels,
the rate of SLR is projected to drop well below present-day observed rates by 2300,
but not yet to zero.

northeastern North American and eastern Asian coasts, as well as
in the Indian Ocean. On the northeastern North American coast,
gravitational forces counteract dynamic effects because of the
nearby location of Greenland. Along the eastern Asian coast and
in the Indian Ocean, which are far from melting glaciers, both
gravitational forces and ocean dynamics act to enhance sea-level
rise, which can be up to 20 percent higher than the global mean.
Highlighting the coastlines, Figure 2.11 shows sea-level rise along
a latitudinal gradient, with specified locations relevant for the
regional climate impacts sections presented later.

Figure 2.11: Sea-level rise in the period 2081–2100 relative
to 1986–2005 along the world’s coastlines, from south to north

Each color line indicates an average over a particular coast as shown in the inlet
map in the upper panel. The scale on the right-hand side represents the ratio of
regional sea-level compared to global-mean sea level (units of percent), and the
vertical bars represent the uncertainty thereof, showing 50 percent, 68 percent,
and 80 percent ranges. The top panel shows results for the RCP8.5 emission
pathway, the lower panel the low emission pathway RCP2.6. Cities in the focus
regions of this report are indicated in both panels and labeled in the lower panel.

16

Other local circumstances can modify the regional pattern
significantly through local vertical movement of land caused
by natural factors, such as the post-glacial rebound of land still
underway at high latitudes; anthropogenic influences other than
climate change, such as compaction of soil following extraction
of natural resources or large-scale infrastructure development,
can also modify the regional pattern It is beyond the scope of this
report to explore such particular local circumstances.

Ocean Warming and Acidification
The world’s oceans are expected to see further changes related
to climate change. The previous report presented projections of
ocean acidification, which occurs when the oceans absorb CO2 as
atmospheric concentrations: The scenarios of 4°C warming or
more by 2100 correspond to a carbon dioxide concentration of
above 800 ppm and lead to a further decrease of pH by another 0.3,
equivalent to a 150-percent acidity increase since pre-industrial
levels. The degree and rate of observed ocean acidification due to
anthropogenic CO2 emissions appears to be greater than during any
of the ocean acidification events identified in the geological past
and is expected to have wide-ranging and adverse consequences
for coral reefs and marine production. Some of the impacts of
ocean acidification are presented in Chapter 4 under “Impacts on
Agricultural and Aquaculture Production in Deltaic and Coastal
Regions”.
The world´s oceans have, in addition, been taking up approximately 93 percent of the additional heat caused by anthropogenic
climate change (Levitus et al. 2012). This has been observed for
depths up to 2,000 meters. Since the late 1990s, the contribution of waters below 700 meters increases and the overall heat
uptake has been reported to have been higher during the last
decade (1.19 ± 0.11 W m–2) than the preceding record (Balmaseda, Trenberth, and Källén 2013). Ocean warming exerts a
large influence on the continents: 80 to 90 percent of warming
over land has been estimated to be indirectly driven by ocean
warming (Dommenget 2009). This implies a time lag and commitment to further global warming following even large emission
decreases. Furthermore, recent research suggests that warming
further enhances the negative effect of acidification on growth,
development, and survival across many different calcifying
species (Kroeker et al. 2013).

Chapter

3

Sub-Saharan Africa:
Food Production at Risk
REGIONAL SUMMARY
Sub-Saharan Africa is a rapidly developing region of over 800 million people, with 49 countries17, and great ecological, climatic,
and cultural diversity. By 2050, its population is projected to
approach 1.5–1.9 billion people. With a 4°C global warming by
the end of the century, sea level is projected to rise up to 100 cm,
droughts are expected to become increasingly likely in central and
southern Africa, and never-before-experienced heat extremes are
projected to affect increasing proportions of the region. Projections
also show an increased likelihood of increased annual precipitation
in the Horn of Africa and parts of East Africa that is likely to be
concentrated in bursts and, thereby, increase the risk of flooding.
Increased atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are likely to facilitate
a shift from grass to woodland savanna and thereby negatively
impact pastoral livelihoods if grass-based forage is reduced. Climate
change is expected to have adverse impacts and pose severe risks,
particularly on agricultural crop production, pastoral and livestock
systems, and capture fisheries. It may also significantly increase
the challenges of ensuring food security and eradicating poverty.
Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly vulnerable to impacts on
agriculture. Most of the region´s agricultural crop production is
rainfed and therefore highly susceptible to shifts in precipitation
and temperature. A net expansion of the overall area classified as
arid or hyper-arid is projected for the region as a whole, with likely
adverse consequences for crop and livestock production. Since
the 1950s, much of the region has experienced increased drought
and the population´s vulnerability is high: The 2011 drought in
the Horn of Africa, for example, affected 13 million people and
led to extremely high rates of malnutrition, particularly among
children. Under future climate change, droughts are projected to

become increasingly likely in central and southern Africa, with
a 40-percent decrease in precipitation in southern Africa if global
temperatures reach 4°C above pre-industrial levels by the 2080s
(2071–2099 relative to 1951–1980).

17 This report defines Sub-Saharan Africa as the region south of the Sahara. For

the projections on changes in temperature, precipitation, aridity, heat extremes, and
sea-level rise, the area corresponds broadly to regions 15, 16, and 17 in the IPCC´s
special report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance
Climate Change Adaptation (SREX).

Pastoral systems are also at risk from climate impacts, as
livestock is affected by extreme heat, water stress, an increased
prevalence of diseases, and reduced fodder availability. Marine
fish stocks migrate toward higher latitudes as waters warm and
potential catches may be diminished locally, adding to the already
large pressure placed on ecosystems by overfishing.
Heat extremes are projected to affect increasing proportions
of the region, with adverse consequences for food production systems, ecosystems and human health. Direct and indirect impacts
on human health are also expected, and an acceleration of the
urbanization trend in response to additional pressures caused by
climate change is likely to compound vulnerability.

Current Climate Trends and Projected
Climate Change to 2100
Climate change exerts pressure on ecosystems and key sectors in
Sub-Saharan Africa, with repercussions for the human populations
dependent on them.

Rainfall
In terms of precipitation, the region is characterized by significant
inter-annual and inter-decadal variability, and long-term trends are
uncertain and inconsistent on the sub-regional scale: For example,
while West Africa has experienced declines in mean annual
precipitation over the past century, an increase in the Sahel has
been observed over the last decade. In southern Africa and the
tropical rainforest zone, no long-term trend has been observed.
Inter-annual variability has increased, however, with more intense
droughts and rainfall events reported in parts of southern Africa.
Eastern Africa has seen increasing rainfall in some parts over the
past decades, which is a reversal of a drying trend over most parts
of the region during the past century.
Under 2°C warming, the existing differences in water availability
across the region are likely to become more pronounced. For example,
average annual rainfall is projected to increase mainly in the Horn
of Africa (with both positive and negative impacts), while parts of
Southern and West Africa may see decreases in rainfall and groundwater recharge rates of 50–70 percent. Under 4°C warming, annual
precipitation in Southern Africa may decrease by up to 30 percent,
while East Africa is projected by many models to be wetter than
today, leading to an overall decrease in the risk of drought. Some
important caveats are in order however, on precipitation projections. First, there is a significant degree of uncertainty, particularly
for east and west Africa. Second, even if, on an annual average,
precipitation does increase, it is likely to be concentrated in bursts
rather than evenly distributed over the year.18 In addition, droughts
are projected to become increasingly likely over southern and central Africa. A “likely” event is defined as a >66 percent chance of
occurring, using the modeling approaches adopted in this report.
20

Temperature
Since the 1960s, measurements show that there has been a warming trend that has continued to the present, with an increase in
the number of warm spells over southern and western Africa.
Recent work has found a detectable human-induced warming
over Africa as a whole, with warm extremes in South Africa
since 1961. A summer warming trend is projected to be mostly
uniformly distributed throughout the region. In a 4°C world and
relative to a 30-year baseline period (1951–80), monthly summer
temperature increases over Sub-Saharan Africa are projected to
reach 5°C above the baseline temperature by 2100. In a 2°C world,
increases in African summer temperatures are projected to peak
at about 1.5°C above the baseline temperature by 2050.
As global mean temperatures rise, unusual and unprecedented
heat extremes19 are projected to occur with greater frequency during summer months. By the time global warming reaches 1.5°C
in the 2030s, heat extremes that are unusual or virtually absent
today are projected to cover over one-fifth of land areas in the
Southern Hemisphere summer months. Unprecedented monthly
heat extremes, could cover up to 5 percent of land areas in this
timeframe. Under 2°C warming, monthly heat extremes that
are unusual or virtually absent in today´s regional climate are
projected to cover nearly 45 percent of land areas by the 2050s,
and unprecedented heat extremes are expected to cover up
to 15 percent of land area in the summer. With global warming
reaching about 4°C by the end of the century, unusual summertime heat extremes are projected to cover most of the land areas
(85 percent), with unprecedented heat extremes covering more
than 50 percent.

18 Uncertainty is particularly large for East Africa due to concerns about whether

the GCM models adequately capture the dynamics of the rainy seasons in that region
and because higher resolution regional climate models do not seem to reproduce,
but rather contradict, the increase in precipitation seen in the projections of most
global models. Drought risk results from periods of anomalously low precipitation
or high warming or both, but this risk is also influenced by other climate variables
like wind speed and incoming radiation. Climate-model projections of warming
generally have lower uncertainty, while uncertainties in precipitation projections
differ between regions. Uncertainties in drought projections are smallest for Southern
Africa (primarily driven by warming), somewhat larger for Central Africa (because
of smaller signals of change), and largest for West Africa (for which there is large
disagreement across models on precipitation changes, both in sign and in amplitude).
19 In this report, unusual and unprecedented heat extremes are defined using thresholds
based on the historical variability of the current local climate. The absolute level of
the threshold thus depends on the natural year-to-year variability in the base period
(1951–1980), which is captured by the standard deviation (sigma). Unusual heat
extremes are defined as 3-sigma events. For a normal distribution, 3-sigma events
have a return time of 740 years. The 2012 U.S. heat wave and the 2010 Russian heat
wave classify as 3-sigma events. Unprecedented heat extremes are defined as 5-sigma
events. They have a return time of several million years. Monthly temperature data
do not necessarily follow a normal distribution (for example, the distribution can
have “long” tails, making warm events more likely) and the return times can be different from the ones expected in a normal distribution. Nevertheless, 3-sigma events
are extremely unlikely and 5-sigma events have almost certainly never occurred.

S ub -S aharan A frica : F ood P roduction at R isk

Likely Physical and Biophysical Impacts of Projected
Climate Change
The projected changes in rainfall, temperature, and extreme event
frequency and/or intensity will have both direct and indirect
impacts on sea-level rise, aridity, crop yields, and agro-pastoral
systems that would affect populations.

Projected Aridity Trends
Patterns of aridity20 are projected to shift and expand within the
total area classified as such due to changes in temperature and
precipitation. Arid regions are projected to spread, most notably in
Southern Africa but also in parts of West Africa. Total hyper-arid
and arid areas are projected to expand by 10 percent compared
to the 1986–2005 period. Where aridity increases, crop yields are
likely to decline as the growing season shortens. Decreased aridity
is projected in East Africa; the change in area, however, does not
compensate for increases elsewhere.

Sea-level Rise
Sea level is projected to rise more than the global average in the
tropics and sub-tropics. Under a warming of 1.5°C, sea-level is
projected to rise by 50 cm along Sub-Saharan Africa’s tropical
coasts by 2060, with further rises possible under high-end projections. In the 2°C warming scenario, sea-level rise is projected to
reach 70 cm by the 2080s, with levels higher toward the south.
The 4°C warming scenario is projected to result in a rise of 100 cm
of sea-level by the 2090s. The difference in rate and magnitude of

sea-level rise between the 4°C warming scenario and the 2°C warming scenario by 2100 becomes pronounced due to the continuing
rate of sea-level rise in the higher warming scenario relative to the
stabilized level under 2°C. The projected sea-level under 4°C would
increase the share of the population at risk of flooding in GuineaBissau and Mozambique to around 15 percent by 2100, compared
to around 10 percent in projections without sea-level rise; in The
Gambia, the share of the population at risk of flooding would increase
many fold to 10 percent of the population by 2070.

Sector-based and Thematic Impacts
Ecosystems
Savanna grasslands may be reduced in area, with potential impacts
on livelihoods and pastoral systems. By the time 3°C global warming is reached, savannas are projected to decrease from about a
quarter at present to approximately one-seventh of total land area,
reducing the availability of food for grazing animals. Both changes
in climatic conditions and increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration
are projected to play a role in bringing about regime shifts in African
ecosystems, thereby altering the composition of species. Due to
20 Aridity is characterized by a structural precipitation deficit-meaning a lack of

necessary rainfall amounts for vegetation and/or crop growth-and is potentially driven
by a positive feedback mechanism. In regions where the soil dries out due to a lack
of precipitation, no more heat can be converted into latent heat and all heat results
in increased surface temperatures. This additional heating of the land increases
evaporative demand of crops and amplifies the precipitation deficit.

Figure 3.1: Sub-Saharan Africa – Multi-model mean of the percentage change in the Aridity Index in a 2°C world (left) and a 4°C
world (right) for Sub-Saharan Africa by 2071–2099 relative to 1951–1980

In non-hatched areas, at least 4/5 (80 percent) of models agree. In hatched areas, 2/5 of the models disagree. Note that a negative change corresponds to a shift to
more arid conditions. Particular uncertainty remains for East Africa, where regional climate model projections tend to show an increase in precipitation, which would
be associated with a decrease in the Aridity Index (see also footnote 2). A decrease in aridity does not necessarily imply more favorable conditions for agriculture or
livestock, as it may be associated with increased flood risks.

A more comprehensive table of impacts and risks for SSA is presented at the end of Chapter 3.
Refers to the global mean increase above pre-industrial temperatures.
Years indicate the decade during which warming levels are exceeded in a business-as-usual scenario exceeding 4°C by the 2080s.
d
Years indicate the decade during which warming levels are exceeded with a 50 percent or greater change (generally at the start of the decade) in a business-asusual scenario (RCP8.5 scenario). Exceedance with a likely chance (>66 percent) generally occurs in the second half of the decade cited.
e
Mean heat extremes across climate model projections are given. Illustrative uncertainty range across the models (minimum to maximum) for 4°C warming are
70–100 percent for unusual extremes, and 30–100 percent for unprecedented extremes. The maximum frequency of heat extreme occurrence in both cases is close
to 100 percent, as indicator values saturate at this level.
f
Above 1880 estimated global mean sea level.
g
Add 20 cm to get an approximate estimate above the pre-industrial sea level.
a

b
c

CO2 fertilization, trees may be able to outcompete shade-intolerant
grasses in savannas, leading to a reduction in grassland area and
declines in food availability for livestock and other animals. It is not
yet clear if the negative effects of increased drought on trees in the
region would limit such forest expansion. In response to changes
in temperature and rainfall variability, a 20-percent decline in tree
density in the western Sahel has been observed since the 1950s.

Agricultural Production
Several lines of evidence indicate a likely substantial risk to crop
yields and food production adversely affecting food security
by 1.5–2°C warming, with growing risks at higher levels of warming.
• High temperature sensitivity thresholds for some important
crops, such as maize, wheat, and sorghum, have been observed,
with large yield reductions once the threshold is exceeded.
For example, the photosynthesis rate (key factor in growth
and yield) of crops such as wheat and rice is at a maximum
for temperatures from about 20–32°C. The IPCC AR4 report
(IPCC 2007) stated that even moderate increases (1–2°C) are
likely to have a negative effect on yields for major cereals like
22

wheat, maize, and rice; further warming will have increasingly
negative effects, showing decreases in wheat yield in low
latitude regions of approximately 50 percent for an increase
in mean local temperature of about 5°C. As these temperature
thresholds are exceeded more frequently with 2°C and 4°C
warming, significant production shocks are likely.
• Loss or change of suitable areas. A 1.5°–2°C warming by
the 2030s–2040s could lead to about 40–80 percent reductions
in present maize, millet, and sorghum cropping areas for current cultivars. By 3°C warming, this reduction could grow to
more than 90 percent.
• Significant yield decreases are expected in the near term
under relatively modest levels of warming. Under 1.5–2°C
warming, median yield losses of around 5 percent are projected, increasing to median estimates of around –15 percent
(range –5 percent to –27 percent for 2–2.5°C warming).21
Under 3–4°C warming there are indications that yields may
21 The range is given across the following crops: millet, sorghum, wheat, cassava,

and groundnuts.

S ub -S aharan A frica : F ood P roduction at R isk

decrease by around 15–20 percent across all crops and regions,
although the availability of studies estimating potential yield
impacts is limited.
• Per capita crop production at warming of about 1.8°C (by
the 2050s) is projected to be reduced by 10 percent compared
to a case without climate change. With larger yield reductions
projected for higher levels of warming, this risk could grow;
however, this has yet to be quantified. Livestock production
is also expected to suffer due to climate impacts on forage
availability and heat stress.
• Diversification options for agro-pastoral systems (e.g., switching to silvopastoral systems, irrigated forage production, and
mixed crop-livestock systems) are likely to dwindle as climate
change reduces the carrying capacity of the land and livestock
productivity. The livestock sector has been vulnerable to drought
in the past. For example, pastoralists in southern Ethiopia lost
nearly 50 percent of their cattle and about 40 percent of their
sheep and goats to droughts between 1995–97.
• The CO2 fertilization effect remains uncertain. A strong positive
response of crops to increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations would help to dampen the impacts related to changes
in temperature and precipitation. However, important crops,
including maize, sorghum, and pearl millet—among the dominant crops in Africa—are not very sensitive to atmospheric
CO2 concentrations. Furthermore, the magnitude of these effects
remains uncertain when compared with the results from the
free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE)22 experiments, because the
fertilization effects used in various models appear to be overestimated. Under sustained CO2 fertilization, the nutritional
value of grain per unit of mass has been observed to decrease.

Fisheries
Livelihoods dependent on fisheries and other ecosystem services
are projected to be threatened in some regions, with critical species
possibly ceasing to be locally available. Potential fish catches off
the coast of West Africa, where fish accounts for as much as 50 percent of the animal protein consumed, is likely to be reduced by
as much as 50 percent by the 2050s (compared to 2000 levels).
In other regions, such as the eastern and southeastern coasts of
Sub-Saharan Africa, yield potential has been projected to increase.

Health
Malnutrition can have major secondary health implications by
causing childhood stunting or by increasing susceptibility to
other diseases. Under warming of 1.2–1.9°C, undernourishment
levels are expected to be in the range of 15–65 percent, depending on the sub-region, due to crop yield and nutritional quality
declines. Moderate stunting of children under age five is expected
to occur at a rate of 16–22 percent, and severe stunting at a rate

of 12–20 percent. Without climate change, however, moderate
stunting rates are projected to remain close to present levels
(21–30 percent across the region), and severe stunting is projected
to decrease by 40 percent.

Integrated Synthesis of Climate Change
Impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is confronted with a range of climate risks that
could have far-reaching repercussions for the region´s societies
and economies. Even in a situation in which warming is limited
below 2°C, there are very substantial risks that would continue
to grow as warming approaches 4°C.

Climate Change Projected to Increase Poverty and
Risks from Disease
Poverty in the region may grow even further due to climate impacts,
as poor households with climate sensitive sources of income are
often disproportionately affected by climate change and large parts
of the population still depend on the agricultural sector as their
primary source of food security and income. Below 2°C warming,
large regional risks to food production and security emerge; these
risks would become stronger if adaptation measures were inadequate and the CO2 fertilization effect is weak. Poverty has been
estimated to increase by up to one percent following severe food
production shocks in Malawi, Uganda, and Zambia. As warming
approaches 4°C, the impacts across sectors increase.
Malnutrition as a consequence of impacts on food production further
increases susceptibility to diseases, compounding the overall health
risks in the region. Childhood stunting resulting from malnutrition
is associated with reductions in both cognitive ability and school
performance. Projected crop yield losses and adverse effects on
food production that result in lower real incomes would exacerbate
poor health conditions and malnutrition; with malaria and other
diseases expected to worsen under climate change, adverse effects
on childhood educational performance may be expected.
The diseases that pose a threat in Sub-Saharan Africa as a consequence of climate change include vector- and water-borne diseases
such as malaria, Rift Valley fever, and cholera. The risk of these
diseases is expected to rise as changes in temperature and precipitation patterns increase the extent of areas with conditions conducive
to vectors and pathogens. Other impacts expected to accompany
climate change include mortality and morbidity due to such extreme
events as flooding and more intense and hotter heat waves.
22 FACE experiments measure the effect of elevated CO concentrations in the open
2
air, thereby excluding factors in a traditional laboratory setting that may influence
experimental results.

Climate Change Expected to Challenge Urban
Development, Infrastructure, and Education
The existing urbanization trend in Sub-Saharan Africa could be
accelerated by the stresses that climate change is expected to place
on rural populations. These pressures are expected to arise partly
through impacts on agricultural production, which currently provides
livelihoods to 60 percent of the labor force in the region. Migration
to urban areas may provide new livelihood opportunities, but it
also exposes migrants to new risks. Conditions that characterize
poor urban areas, including overcrowding and inadequate access
to water, drainage, and sanitation facilities, aid the transmission
of vector- and water-borne diseases. As many cities are located
in coastal areas, they are exposed to coastal flooding because of
sea-level rise. The poorest urban dwellers tend to be located in
vulnerable areas, such as floodplains and steep slopes, further placing them at risk of extreme weather events. Impacts occurring even
far-removed from urban areas can be felt in these communities.
For example, food price increases following agricultural production shocks have the most damaging consequences within cities.
Impacts on infrastructure caused by sea-level rise can have
effects on human and economic development, including impacts
on human health, port infrastructure, and tourism. For example,
floods in 2009 in the Tana Delta in Kenya cut off medical services to approximately 100,000 residents; sea-level rise of 70cm
by 2070 would cause damages to port infrastructure in Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania—a hub for international trade—exposing assets
of US$10 billion, or more than 10 percent of the city’s GDP (Kebede
and Nicholls 2011). Such damage to the Dar es Salaam port would
have would have larger economic consequences since it serves as
the seaport for several of its landlocked neighbours.

There are indications that climate change could impact the
ability to meet the educational needs of children in particularly
vulnerable regions. Projected crop yield losses and adverse effects
on food production would exacerbate poor health conditions and
malnutrition; with malaria and other diseases expected to worsen
under climate change, adverse effects on childhood educational
performance may be expected. Childhood stunting resulting from
malnutrition is associated with reduced cognitive ability and school
performance. The projected increase in extreme monthly temperatures within the next few decades may also have an adverse effect
on learning conditions for students and teachers.
Overall, populations in Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to
face mounting pressures on food production systems and risks
associated with rising temperature and heat extremes, drought,
changing precipitation patterns, sea-level rise, and other extreme
events. Health impacts are likely to increase and be exacerbated
by high rates of malnutrition, with possible far-reaching and
long-term consequences for human development. Significant
crop yield reductions at warming levels as low as 2°C warming
are expected to have strong repercussions on food security for
vulnerable populations, including in many growing urban areas.
These and other impacts on infrastructure, in combination, may
negatively impact economic growth and poverty reduction in
the region. A warming of 4°C is projected to bring large reductions in crop yield, with highly adverse effects on food security,
major increases in drought severity and heat extremes, reductions in water availability, and disruption and transformation of
important ecosystems. These impacts may cause large adverse
consequences for human populations and livelihoods and are
likely to be highly deleterious to the development of the region.

Introduction
This report defines Sub-Saharan Africa as the region south of the
Sahara. For the projections on changes in temperature, precipitation, aridity, heat extremes, and sea-level rise, the area corresponds
broadly to regions 15, 16, and 17 in the IPCC´s special report on
Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance
Climate Change Adaptation (SREX).
The region´s development prospects have been improving as it
has experienced above-average growth. The picture that emerges
from the scientific evidence of climate impacts, however, is that
global warming poses escalating risks which could undermine
promising trends, even at relatively low levels of warming.
The most prominent physical risk factors identified for the
region are:
• Increases in temperatures and extremes of heat
• Adverse changes to precipitation patterns in some regions
24

• Increased incidences of extreme weather events
• Sea-level rise
• Increased aridity
This analysis reviews these physical impacts23 and their effects
on specific sectors, including agriculture, water resources, and
human health.24
Sub-Saharan Africa is characterized by a large diversity of
cultural, social, and economic conditions. This diversity shapes

23 Not all physical risks are covered in this section; tropical cyclones, for example,

are dealt with in the South East Asia section.
24 This section does not cover all sectors affected by climate change. Risks to the

energy sector, for example, are dealt with in the South Asian section.

S ub -S aharan A frica : F ood P roduction at R isk

the vulnerability of populations to these physical impacts. A number of geographic factors also influence the nature and extent of
the physical impacts of climate change. For example, more than
one in five people in Sub-Saharan Africa live on degraded land,
which is more prone to losses in agricultural production and
water availability.
The focus of this regional analysis is on food production systems.
The IPCC AR4 in 2007 found that Africa is particularly vulnerable
to the impacts of climate change, with a substantial risk that agricultural production and access to food in many African countries
could be severely compromised—which could adversely affect
food security and malnutrition. Recent literature on agriculture
and ecosystems confirms this finding, and is presented in Chapter
3, under “Projected Ecosystem Changes” and “Human Impacts.”

Regional Patterns of Climate Change
A warming trend since the 1960s to the present has been
observed in Sub-Saharan Africa (Blunden & Arndt, 2012).
Between 1961 and 2000, for example, there was an increase in
the number of warm spells over southern and western Africa.
More recent work finds a detectable human-induced warming
over Africa as a whole, with warm extremes in South Africa
since 1961(Knutson, Zeng, and Wittenberg 2013). In terms of

precipitation, the region is characterized by significant inter-annual
and inter-decadal variability, but trends are inconsistent on the
sub-regional scale: West Africa and the tropical rainforest zone
have experienced declines in mean annual precipitation while
no long-term trend has been observed in southern Africa even
though inter-annual variability has increased with more intense
droughts and rainfall events have been reported. Eastern Africa,
meanwhile, has seen increasing rainfall in the northern part of
the region and decreasing rainfall in the southern part.
In the IPCC AR4, Giannini, Biasutti, Held, and Sobel (2008)
analyze temperature and precipitation changes in the CMIP3 climate model ensemble under the SRES AIB scenario relative to
pre-industrial levels. Two continental-scale patterns dominate
African climate variability: (1) a drying pattern related to ocean
warming and enhanced warming of the southern tropics compared
to the northern tropics, and (2) the effects of the El Niño Southern
Oscillation (ENSO), which is more dominant in East Africa and
South Africa (Giannini, Biasutti, Held, and Sobel 2008).
The CMIP3 model-spread is considerable, however, with
uncertainty even in the direction of change for precipitation in
some regions. For eastern tropical Africa and southern Africa,
there is generally stronger consensus between models than for
western Africa. A clear percentage-increase in rainfall is projected
in eastern tropical Africa and a smaller percentage-decrease is
projected in southern Africa.

Box 3.1 Observed Vulnerability
Sub-Saharan African populations are vulnerable to extreme weather events. A number of natural disasters have severely affected populations across the region in the past. Although no studies attributing these events to climate change were found in the course of this research,
these events show the region’s existing vulnerability. Throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, droughts have increased over the past half century.
The consistency across this region between analyses, as well as model projections, suggest the observed trend toward more severe drying
would continue under further global warming (Aiguo Dai 2011; Sheffield, Wood, and Roderick 2012; Van der Schrier, Barichivich, Briffa, and
Jone 2013). An example of regional vulnerability is the 2011 drought in the Horn of Africa, which affected large numbers of people across
Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya. As a result, more than 13 million people across the region required life-saving assistance (Karumba 2013). The situation led to extremely high rates of malnutrition, particularly among children (leading to the famine being described as a
“children’s famine”), accompanied by high rates of infectious diseases, such as cholera, measles, malaria, and meningitis (Zaracostas 2011).
The drought particularly exacerbated an existing complex emergency characterized by conflict and insecurity in Somalia (USAID 2012) and
caused large numbers of Somalis to become internally displaced or to flee to Ethiopia and Kenya, where they entered overcrowded refugee
camps and were faced with further health risks because of inadequate facilities (McMichael, Barnett, and McMichael 2012).
Flooding in early 2013 in river valleys in southern Africa, which most severely affected Mozambique, is another recent example of significant exposure to extreme weather events. The flooding caused over 100 direct flood-caused deaths, such as drowning and electrocution from
damaged power lines. Furthermore, indirect mortalities are likely to far exceed those of direct flood caused deaths, for instance through steep
increases in the prevalence of diaroheal disease and malaria. The flooding also caused livestock and crop losses, and widespread temporary
displacement with a total of 240,827 people affected in Mozambique (UNRCO 2013). A subsequent cholera epidemic with 1,352 reported
cases in the northern province of Cabo Delgado has been linked to the disaster. Floodwaters also damaged health clinics (UNRCO 2013). The
country has also seen other flooding and cyclones in recent years, notably in 2000, when one-third of crops were destroyed and hundreds of
people lost their lives (Fleshman 2007).
These examples from the Horn of Africa and Mozambique highlight the ramifications for exposed populations arising from the extreme
events that may become more frequent and intense with climate change.

Some modest improvements in representing precipitation patterns by CMIP5 models have been reported, though not specifically
for Sub-Saharan Africa (Kelley et al. 2012; Li, Waliser, Chen, and
Guan 2012; Zhang and Jin 2012). Uncertainty in future precipitation
projections remains large. Moreover, recent decadal fluctuations in
Africa´s climate, especially droughts in the Sahel region, have been
notoriously hard to reproduce in coupled climate models (Giannini,
Biasutti, Held, and Sobel 2008; Mohino, Janicot, and Bader 2010).
The analyses presented here are based on ISI-MIP models, which
are bias-corrected to reproduce the observed historical mean and
variation in both temperature and precipitation. This way, future
projections might provide more robust and consistent trends.
Nevertheless, given the uncertainty in the underlying climate
models, only large-scale changes in precipitation patterns over
those regions where the models agree can be considered robust.
Warming patterns, however, are much more robust.

Figure 3.2: Temperature projections for Sub-Saharan land area

Multi-model mean (thick line) and individual models (thin lines) under RCP2.6
(2°C world) and RCP8.5 (4°C world) for the months of DJF. The multi-model
mean has been smoothed to give the climatological trend.

Projected Temperature Changes
The projected austral summer (December, January, and February,
or DJF) warming of the Sub-Saharan land mass for low- and highemission scenarios is shown in Figure 3.2. Warming is slightly

less strong than for that of the global land area, which is a general
feature of the Southern Hemisphere (see Figure 2.7). In a 2°C

Figure 3.3: Multi-model mean temperature anomaly for RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right) for the months of DJF for Sub-Saharan Africa

Temperature anomalies in degrees Celsius (top row) are averaged over the time period 2071–99 relative to 1951–80, and normalized by the local standard deviation
(bottom row).

26

S ub -S aharan A frica : F ood P roduction at R isk

world, African summer temperatures peak by 2050 at about 1.5°C
above the 1951–80 baseline and remain at this level until the end
of the century. In a 4°C world, warming continues to increase
until the end of the century, with monthly summer temperatures
over Sub-Saharan Africa reaching 5°C above the 1951–80 baseline
by 2100. Geographically, this warming is rather uniformly distributed, although in-land regions in the subtropics warm the most
(see Figure 3.3). In subtropical southern Africa, the difference in
warming between RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 is especially large. This is
likely because of a positive feedback with precipitation: the models project a large decrease in precipitation here (see Figure 3.6),
limiting the effectiveness of evaporative cooling of the soil.
The normalized warming (that is, the warming expressed in
terms of the local year-to-year natural variability) shows a particularly strong trend in the tropics (Figure 3.3). The normalized
warming is a useful diagnostic as it indicates how unusual the
warming is compared to fluctuations experienced in the past.
The monthly temperature distribution in tropical Africa shifts
by more than six standard deviations under a high-emission
scenario (RCP8.5), moving this region to a new climatic regime
by the end of the 21st century. Under a low-emission scenario
(RCP2.6), only localized regions in eastern tropical Africa will

witness substantial normalized warming up to about four standard deviations.

Projected Changes in Heat Extremes
The frequency of austral summer months (DJF) hotter than 5-sigma,
characterized by unprecedented temperatures (see the Chapter 2
on “Projected Temperature Changes”), increases over Sub-Saharan
Africa under the high-emission scenario (Figure 3.4 and 3.5).
By 2100, the multi-model mean of RCP8.5 projects that 75 percent
of summer months would be hotter than 5-sigma (Figure 3.5) and
substantially higher than the global average (see Chapter 2 on
“Projected Changes in Heat Extremes”). The model uncertainty
in the exact timing of the increase in frequency of extremely hot
months is larger for Sub-Saharan Africa compared to the global
mean uncertainty as averaging is performed over a smaller surface
area. During the 2071–99 period, more than half (~60 percent) of
Sub-Saharan African summer months are projected to be hotter
than 5-sigma, with tropical West Africa in particular being highly
impacted (~90 percent). Over this period, almost all summer
months across Sub-Saharan Africa will be hotter than 3-sigma,
with temperatures considered unusual or virtually absent in today’s

Figure 3.4: Multi-model mean of the percentage of austral summer months in the time period 2071–99

Figure 3.5: Multi-model mean (thick line) and individual models
(thin lines) of the percentage of Sub-Saharan African land area
warmer than 3-sigma (top) and 5-sigma (bottom) during austral
summer months (DJF) for scenarios RCP2.6 and RCP8.5

the duration of warm spells increases most in tropical Africa
(Sillmann and Kharin 2013a). Under RCP8.5, by the end of the
century warm nights are expected to occur about 95 percent of
the time in tropical west and east Africa and about 85 percent of
the time in southern Africa, with only limited inter-model spread.
Limiting greenhouse gas emissions to a RCP2.6 scenario reduces
these numbers to ~50 percent and ~30 percent respectively.

Precipitation Projections

Multi-model mean (thick line) and individual models (thin lines) under RCP2.6
(2°C world) and RCP8.5 (4°C world) for the months of DJF. The multi-model
mean has been smoothed to give the climatological trend.

climate (Figure 3.4). Under RCP8.5, all African regions, especially
the tropics, would migrate to a new climatic regime. The precise
timing of this shift depends on the exact regional definition and
the model used.
Under the low-emission scenario, the bulk of the high-impact
heat extremes expected in Sub-Saharan Africa under RCP8.5 would
be avoided. Extremes beyond 5-sigma are projected to cover a minor,
although non-negligible, share of the surface land area (~5 percent), concentrated over western tropical Africa (Figure 3.4). Over
most subtropical regions, 5-sigma events would still be rare. In
contrast, the less extreme months, beyond 3-sigma, would increase
substantially to about 30 percent of the Sub-Saharan land area
(Figure 3.5). Thus, even under a low-emission scenario, a substantial increase in heat extremes in the near term is anticipated.
Consistent with these findings, CMIP5 models project that
the frequency of warm nights (beyond the 90th percentile) and
28

Consistent with CMIP3 projections (Giannini, Biasutti, Held, and
Sobel 2008a), the ISI-MIP models’ projected change in annual
mean precipitation shows a clear pattern of tropical East Africa
(Horn of Africa) getting wetter and southern Africa getting drier.
Note that for Somalia and eastern Ethiopia the projections show a
large relative change over a region that is very dry. Western tropical Africa only shows a weak (<10 percent) increase in annual
precipitation, although model uncertainty is large and there is
limited agreement among models on the size of changes. The dipole
pattern of wetting in tropical East Africa and drying in southern
Africa is observed in both seasons and in both emission scenarios.
Under the low-emission scenario, the magnitudes of change are
smaller, and the models disagree on the direction of change over
larger areas. Under the high-emission scenario, the magnitude of
change becomes stronger everywhere and the models converge in
the direction of change. For this stronger signal of change, model
disagreement between areas getting wetter and areas getting drier
(in the multi-model mean) is limited to regions at the boundary
and some regions in tropical western Africa.
Subtropical southern Africa could see a decrease of annual precipitation by up to 30 percent, contributing to an increase in aridity
in this region (see Chapter 3 on “Aridity”), although it must be noted
that this is a large relative change in a region with very low rainfall.
The wetting of tropical East-Africa occurs predominantly during the austral summer (DJF), whereas the drying of southern
Africa occurs predominantly during the austral winter (JJA), the
driest season, so that the annual pattern is primarily determined
by the smaller relative changes during the wetter season (DJF).
However, the agreement between global models on increased
precipitation in East Africa and the Horn of Africa in particular does
not necessarily imply high confidence in these results. Although global
climate models are needed to project interactions between global
circulation patterns of atmosphere and ocean, regional models offer
a higher spatial resolution and provide a way to take into account
complex regional geography and reproduce local climate generally
better than global models. Regional models use boundary conditions
prescribed by global models, so that their large-scale forcings, for
example due to anthropogenic influences, are consistent with GCMs.
Regional climate models do not reproduce the increase in precipitation projected by global models for East Africa as a whole. On

Hatched areas indicate uncertainty regions with two out of five models disagreeing on the direction of change compared to the remaining three models.

a sub-regional scale, these models show areas of strongly reduced
precipitation by mid-century for a roughly 2°C global warming, for
example in Uganda and Ethiopia (Patricola and Cook 2010; Cook
and Vizy 2013; Laprise et al. 2013). Cook and Vizy (2012) showed
how the strong decrease of the long rains in regional climate models, combined with warming, would lead to a drastically shorter
growing season in East Africa, partly compensated by a modest
increase in short-rains season length.
Using global-model projections in precipitation, (Dai, 2012) estimated for a global-mean warming of 3°C by the end of the 21st
century that drought risk expressed by the Palmer Drought

Severity Index25 (PDSI) reaches a permanent state of severe to
extreme droughts in terms of present-day conditions over southern
Africa, as well as increased drought risk over Central Africa. Dai
(2012) showed that projected changes in soil-moisture content
are generally consistent with the pattern of PDSI over SubSaharan Africa. Taylor et al. (2012) confirmed that the projected

25 Drought indicators like PDSI include a time-dependent water balance calculation

that includes monthly precipitation, temperature, wind speed, incoming radiation,
and takes account of present-day local climate so that drought risk is presented
relative to existing conditions.

increased drought risk over southern Africa is consistent across
other drought indicators, but added West Africa as an area where
projections consistently show an increased drought risk. However,
Figure 3.6 shows that precipitation changes are highly uncertain
in the latter region, which Taylor et al (2012) might not have been
taken into account fully.
According to Giannini, Biasutti, Held, and Sobel (2008a), the
uncertainties in western tropical Africa are mainly because of
competing mechanisms affecting rainfall. On the one hand, the
onset of convection and subsequent rainfall is mainly affected by
temperature at the surface and higher levels in the atmosphere.
On the other hand, the amount of moisture supply is primarily
affected by changes in atmospheric circulation, which can be
induced by the temperature contrast between land and ocean.
The effect of El Niño events mainly act via the first mechanism,
with warming of the whole tropical troposphere stabilizing the
atmospheric column and thereby inhibiting strong convection
(Giannini, Biasutti, Held, and Sobel 2008a).
Sillmann and Kharin (2013a) studied precipitation extremes
for 2081–2100 in the CMIP5 climate model ensemble under the
low emission high emission scenario. Under the high-emission
scenario, the total amount of annual precipitation on days with at
least 1 mm of precipitation (total wet-day precipitation) increases
in tropical eastern Africa by 5 to 75 percent, with the highest
increase in the Horn of Africa, although the latter represents
a strong relative change over a very dry area. In contrast to
global models, regional climate models project no change, or
even a drying for East Africa, especially during the long rains.
Consistently, one recent regional climate model study projects
an increase in the number of dry days over East Africa (Vizy
and Cook 2012b). Changes in extreme wet rainfall intensity were
found to be highly regional and projected to increase over the
Ethiopian highlands.
Sillmann and Kharin (2013a) further projected changes of +5 to
–15 percent in total wet-day precipitation for tropical western Africa
with large uncertainties, especially at the monsoon-dependent
Guinea coast. Very wet days (that is, the top 5 percent) show
even stronger increases: by 50 to 100 percent in eastern tropical
Africa and by 30 to 70 percent in western tropical Africa. Finally in
southern Africa, total wet day precipitation is projected to decrease
by 15 to 45 percent, and very-wet day precipitation to increase
by around 20 to 30 percent over parts of the region. However,
some localized areas along the west coast of southern Africa are
expected to see decreases in very wet days (up to 30 percent).
Here, increases in consecutive dry days coincide with decreases
in heavy precipitation days and maximum consecutive five-day
precipitation, indicating an intensification of dry conditions. The
percentile changes in total wet-day precipitation, as well as in
very wet days, are much less pronounced in the low emission
scenario RCP2.6.
30

Aridity
The availability of water for ecosystems and society is a function of
both demand and supply. The long-term balance between demand
and supply is a fundamental determinant of the ecosystems and
agricultural systems able to thrive in a certain area. This section
assesses projected changes in Aridity Index (AI), an indicator
designed for identifying “arid” regions, that is regions with a structural precipitation deficit (UNEP 1997; Zomer 2008). AI is defined as
total annual precipitation divided by potential evapotranspiration;
the latter is a standardized measure of water demand representing
the amount of water a representative crop type would need over
a year to grow (see Appendix 2). Potential evapotranspiration is
to a large extent governed by (changes in) temperature, although
other meteorological variables play a role as well.
A smaller AI value indicates a larger water deficit (i.e., more
arid condition), with areas classified as hyper-arid, arid, semiarid, and sub-humid as specified in Table 3.2. In the absence of
an increase in rainfall, an increase in potential evapotranspiration
translates into a lower AI value and a shift toward more structurally arid conditions.
Analysis by the authors shows that, in general, the annual
mean of monthly potential evapotranspiration increases under
global warming (see Appendix 2). This is observed over all of
Sub-Saharan Africa with strong model agreement, except for
regions projected to see a strong increase in precipitation. In
Eastern Africa and the Sahel region, the multi-model mean shows
a small reduction in potential evapotranspiration—but the models
disagree. Thus regions that are getting wetter in terms of increased
rainfall see either only a limited increase or even a decrease in
potential evapotranspiration. By contrast, a more unambiguous
signal emerges for regions projected to get less rainfall (notably
southern Africa), where the projections show an enhanced increase
in potential evapotranspiration. This is likely because of the feedback between precipitation and evaporation via temperature. In
regions receiving more rainfall there is enough water available
for evaporative cooling; this limits the warming of the surface. In
regions where the soil dries out because of a lack of precipitation,
however, no more heat can be converted into latent heat and all
heat results in increased surface temperatures.
Table 3.2: Climatic classification of regions according to
Aridity Index (AI)
Minimum AI Value
Hyper-arid
Arid

0

Maximum AI Value
0.05

0.05

0.2

Semi-arid

0.2

0.5

Sub-humid

0.5

0.65

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Figure 3.7: Multi-model mean of the percentage change in the annual-mean of monthly potential evapotranspiration for RCP2.6
(left) and RCP8.5 (right) for Sub-Saharan Africa by 2071–99 relative to 1951–80

In general, a local warming, amplified by dry conditions,
leads to an increase in potential evaporation. In other words,
were a standard crop-type to grow there, it would need to release
more heat in the form of evapotranspiration to survive the local
conditions. This shortens the growing season, if moisture is the
main factor constraining the length of the growing season, which
is generally the case in sub-humid and drier regions. A shorter
growing season implies lower crop yields, a higher risk of crop

failure, or a need to shift to different crop types (adaptation). In
the absence of an increase in rainfall (supply), an increase in
potential evapotranspiration (demand) translates into a lower AI
value and a shift toward more structurally arid conditions. There
is a close match between the shift in potential evapotranspiration
in Figure 3.7 and the shift in AI, which is shown in Figure 3.8,
with the strongest deterioration toward more arid conditions in
Southern Africa. A notable exception is southwestern Africa, where

Figure 3.8: Multi-model mean of the percentage change in the aridity index in a 2°C world (left) and a 4°C world (right) for SubSaharan Africa by 2071–99 relative to 1951–80

In non-hatched areas, at least 4/5 (80 percent) of models agree. In hatched areas, at least 2/5 (20 percent) disagree. Note that a negative change corresponds to a
shift to more arid conditions and vice versa.

Figure 3.9: Multi-model mean (thick line) and individual models (thin lines) of the percentage of Sub-Saharan African land area
under sub-humid, semi-arid, arid, and hyper-arid conditions for scenarios RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right)

the evapotranspiration-driven shift in AI is amplified by a decline
in rainfall (see Figure 3.6). By contrast, the improved (higher) aridity index in East Africa is correlated with higher rainfall projected
by global climate models, a characteristic that is uncertain and
not reproduced by higher-resolution regional climate models (see
Chapter 3 on “Precipitation Projections”). In addition, note that
for Somalia and eastern Ethiopia the shift implies a large relative
shift imposed on a very low aridity index value, which results in
AI values still classified as arid or semi-arid.
The shift in AI in Figure 3.8 translates into a shift of categorization of areas into aridity classes. Figure 3.9 shows that although
there is little change in net dry areas in a 2°C world, a 4°C world
leads to a shift of total area classification toward arid and hyperarid. The overall area of hyper-arid and arid regions is projected
to grow by 10 percent in a 4°C world (from about 20 percent
to 23 percent of the total sub-Saharan land area), and by 3 percent
in a 2°C world by 2080–2100 relative to 1986–2005. As semi-arid
area shrinks, total arid area increases by 5 percent in a 4°C world
and 1 percent in a 2°C world. The results for a 4°C world are consistent with Fischer et al. (2007), who used a previous generation
of GCMs and a more sophisticated classification method based on
growing period length to estimate a 5–8 percent increase in arid
area in Africa by 2070–2100.

Regional Sea-level Rise
The difference in regional sea-level rise in Sub-Saharan Africa
between a 2°C and a 4°C world is about 35 cm by 2100 using the
semi-empirical model employed in this report. As explained in
Chapter 2, current sea levels and projections of future sea-level rise
are not uniform across the world. Sub-Saharan Africa as defined
32

in this report stretches from 15° north to 35° south. Closer to the
equator, but not necessarily symmetrically north and south, projections of local sea-level rise show a stronger increase compared to
mid-latitudes. Sub-Saharan Africa experienced sea-level rise of 21 cm
by 2010 (Church and White 2011). For the African coastlines, sea-level
rise projected by the end of the 21st century relative to 1986–2005 is
generally around 10-percent higher than the global mean, but
higher than this for southern Africa (for example, Maputo) and
lower for West Africa (for example, Lomé). Figure 3.10 shows the
regional sea-level rise projections under the high emission scenario
RCP8.5 for 2081–2100. Note that these projections include only the
effects of human-induced global climate change, not those of local
land subsidence resulting from natural or human influences.

Figure 3.10: Regional sea-level rise in 2081–2100 (relative
to 1986–2005) for the Sub-Saharan coastline under RCP8.5

S ub -S aharan A frica : F ood P roduction at R isk

Figure 3.11: Local sea-level rise above 1986–2005 mean as a result of global climate change (excluding local change because of
land subsidence by natural or human causes)

The time series of sea-level rise in a selection of locations in
Sub-Saharan Africa is shown in Figure 3.11. Locations in West
Africa are very close in terms of latitude and are projected to
face comparable sea-level rise in a 4°C world, that is around 105
(85 to 125) cm by 2080–2100 (a common time period in impact
studies assessed in the following sections). In a 2°C world, the
rise is significantly lower but still considerable, at 70 (60 to 80)
cm. Near Maputo in southern Africa, regional sea-level rise is
some 5 cm higher by that time. For these locations, the likely
regional sea-level rise (>66 percent chance) exceeds 50 cm
above 1986–2005 by the 2060s in a 4°C warming scenario
and 100 cm by the 2090s, both about 10 years before the global
mean exceeds these levels.
In a 2°C warming scenario, 0.5 m is likely exceeded by
the 2070s, only 10 years after exceeding this level in a 4°C warming
scenario. By the 2070s, the rate of sea-level rise in a 2°C warming scenario peaks and remains constant, while that in the 4°C
warming scenario continues to increase. As a result, one meter of

sea-level rise is reached in a 4°C warming scenario by 2090; this
level is not likely to be exceeded until well into the 22nd century
in a 2°C warming scenario.

The Vulnerability of Coastal Populations
and Infrastructure
Sea-level rise would have repercussions for populations and
infrastructure located in coastal areas. Using the DIVA model,
Hinkel et al. (2011) investigate the future impacts of sea-level rise
in Sub-Saharan Africa on population and assets in Sub-Saharan
Africa, with and without adaptation measures, under four different sea-level rise scenarios26 and a no sea-level rise scenario. The
applied adaptation measures are dikes building, maintenance, and
upgrades and beach nourishment.
26 Forty-two cm, 64 cm, 104 cm, and 126 cm above 1995 sea level for a range of

Projected Number of People Flooded and
Displaced
Hinkel et al. (2011) estimate the number of people flooded27 every
year and the number of people forced to migrate because of the
impacts of coastal erosion induced by sea-level rise. Under the
high sea-level rise scenario (126 cm by 2100), the authors estimate
that there would be approximately 18 million28 people flooded
in Sub-Saharan Africa per year. Under a sea-level rise scenario
(64 cm by 2100), there would be close to 11 million people flooded
every year. In the no sea-level rise scenario, only accounting for
delta subsidence and increased population, up to 9 million people
would be affected.
Mozambique and Nigeria are projected to be the most affected
African countries, with 5 and 3 million people respectively being
flooded by 2100 under the high sea-level rise scenario. However,
Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and The Gambia would suffer the
highest percentage of population affected, with up to 10 percent
of their total projected population affected by flooding.
As a consequence of land loss because of coastal erosion induced
by sea-level rise, the authors project that by 2100 between 12,00029
(low business-as-usual sea-level rise scenario) and 33,000 people30
(high business-as-usual sea-level rise scenario) could be forced
to migrate.

Projected Damage to Economic Assets
Infrastructure in coastal zones is particularly vulnerable to both
sea-level rise and to such weather extremes as cyclones. Damage
to port infrastructure in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for example,
would have serious economic consequences. The seaport handles
approximately 95 percent of Tanzania’s international trade and
serves landlocked countries further inland (Kebede and Nicholls 2011). Most of the tourism facilities of Mombasa, Kenya, are
located in coastal zones, which are under threat of sea-level rise
in addition to a higher frequency of flooding and other extreme
weather events that already cause damage almost every year
(Kebede, Nicholls, Hanson, and Mokrech 2012). Damage to seafront
hotel infrastructure has also already been reported in Cotonou,
Benin—with this also considered a risk with rising sea levels
elsewhere (Hope 2009). While to date there are few projections
of the effects on gross domestic product (GDP) from impacts on
the tourism sector, the agglomeration of tourism infrastructure in
coastal areas may place this sector at severe risk of the impacts
of sea-level rise.
Hinkel et al. (2011) estimate the damage costs resulting from
sea-level rise in Sub-Saharan Africa, defining damage costs as the
projected cost of economic damage induced by coastal flooding,
forced migration, salinity intrusion, and loss of dry land. The
authors estimate damage costs using a 1995 dollar undiscounted
34

value.31 In a no-adaption scenario, the sea-level rise would incur
approximately $3.3 billion32 in damages in Sub-Saharan Africa
under the 126 cm sea-level rise scenario. Under a lower emission
scenario leading to a 2°C temperature increase by the end of the
century, damages due to sea-level rise may be up to half a billion
dollars lower. Mozambique and Guinea Bissau are expected to be
the most affected African countries, with a loss of over 0.15 percent
of their national GDPs.

Water Availability
The impact of climate change on temperature and precipitation
is expected to bring about major changes in the terrestrial water
cycle. This affects the availability of water resources and, consequently, the societies that rely on them (Bates, Kundzewicz, Wu,
and Palutikof 2008).
Different forms of water availability are distinguishable.
Blue water refers to water in rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, or
aquifers that is available for irrigation, municipal, industrial, and
other uses. Green water refers to the precipitation that infiltrates
the soil, which rainfed agriculture and natural ecosystems depend
on. Because of the different exposure to climate change, the
fraction of blue water in aquifers will be discussed separately as
groundwater. Blue water resulting from river runoff and surface
water and green water are directly affected by temperature and
precipitation changes; whereas, groundwater, a component of blue

27 This is the “expected number of people subject to annual flooding taking into

account coastal topography, population and defenses” as well the effects of sea-level
rise (Hinkel et al. 2011).
28 Hinkel, Vuuren, Nicholls, and Klein (2012)the number of people flooded reaches 168 million per year in 2100. Mitigation reduces this number by factor 1.4, adaptation
by factor 461 and both options together by factor 540. The global annual flood cost
(including dike upgrade cost, maintenance cost and residual damage cost project 27 million people flooded in 2100 under this sea-level rise scenario in Africa. The 18 million
people figure for Sub-Saharan Africa was obtained by subtracting the number of people
flooded in Egypt (about 8 million), Tunisia (0.5 million), and Morocco (0.5 million).
29 About 15,000 people are projected to be forced to migrate in 2100 under this
sea-level rise scenario in the whole of Africa. The figure of 12,000 people for SubSaharan Africa was obtained by subtracting the number of people forced to migrate
in Egypt (about 2,000) and in Morocco (about 1,000).
30 About 40,000 people are projected to be forced to migrate in 2100 under this
sea-level rise scenario in the whole of Africa. The figure of 33,000 people for SubSaharan Africa was obtained by subtracting the number of people forced to migrate
in Egypt (about 5,000) and in Morocco (about 2,000).
31 Note that using an undiscounted 1995 dollar may contribute to an overestimation of future damage costs.
32 Hinkel et al. (2012)the number of people flooded reaches 168 million per year
in 2100. Mitigation reduces this number by factor 1.4, adaptation by factor 461 and
both options together by factor 540. The global annual flood cost (including dike
upgrade cost, maintenance cost and residual damage cost project $8.9 billion in
damages in 2100 under this sea-level rise scenario in Africa. The $3.3 billion damage figure for Sub-Saharan Africa was obtained by subtracting the damage cost in
Egypt (about $5 billion), Tunisia, Morocco ($0.5 billion), and in Libya ($0.1 billion).

S ub -S aharan A frica : F ood P roduction at R isk

water, is relatively more resilient to climate variability as long as
it is sufficiently33 recharged from precipitation (Kundzewicz and
Döll 2009; Taylor et al. 2012).
The Sub-Saharan African region’s vulnerability to changes in
water availability is particularly high because of its dependence
on rainfed agriculture (Calzadilla, Zhu, Rehdanz, Tol, and Ringler 2009; Salvador Barrios, Outtara, Strobl, and Ouattara 2008)
and its lack of water-related infrastructure (Brown and Lall 2006).

Present Threats to Water Availability
Because of a lack of investment in water-related infrastructure
that could alleviate stressors, Sub-Saharan Africa is among the
regions in the world most seriously threatened by an absence of
water security (Vörösmarty et al. 2010). Vörösmarty et al. (2010)
find that large parts of Sub-Saharan Africa have medium to high
threats34 arising from semi-aridity and highly seasonally variable
water availability, compounded by pollution and human and
agricultural water stresses.
Threats are especially high along the Guinea coast and East
Africa. This contrasts to regions, such as Europe, where even higher
levels of water availability threats are circumvented because of
massive investments in water-related infrastructure. According to
Vörösmarty et al. (2010), even to alleviate present-day vulnerabilities, a central challenge for Sub-Saharan Africa lies in improving
water security by investing in water resource development without
undermining riverine biodiversity, as has happened in developed
regions similar to Europe.
The index assessed in Vörösmarty et al. (2010) refers to the
threat of scarcity in access to clean blue water; green water security
seems presently less at risk. Rockström et al. (2009) found that
many of the areas classified as blue water scarce (that is, with
less than 1,000 m³ per capita per year as is the case for Burkina
Faso, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi,
parts of Zimbabwe, and South Africa) can at present provide an
adequate overall supply of green water required for producing a
standard diet (1,300 m³ per capita per year). Since these indicators refer to water availability per capita, one way to interpret
these findings is that there is a better match between population
density and available green water (for agricultural production)
than between population and available blue water.
Groundwater often is the sole source of safe drinking water in
rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa (MacDonald et al. 2009). Unlike
the major aquifer systems in northern Africa, most of Sub-Saharan
Africa has generally low permeability and minor aquifers, with some
larger aquifer systems located only in the Democratic Republic of”
before Congo, parts of Angola, and southern Nigeria (MacDonald
et al. 2012). A lack of assessments of both groundwater resources
and water quality are among the large uncertainties in assessing
the yield of African aquifers (MacDonald et al. 2012). Given that

groundwater can act as a buffer for projected climate change, the
main challenge will be to quantify whether projected recharge
rates would balance with increasing demand-driven exploitation
(Taylor et al. 2012).

Projected Impacts on Water Availability
The future impacts of climate change on water availability and
stress for Sub-Saharan Africa have been studied for many years. A
critical uncertainty is projecting changes in regional precipitation
(see Chapter 3 on “Precipitation Projections”). One of the important
messages from these projections is that large regions of uncertainty
remain, particularly in West Africa and East Africa, but that the
uncertainties are reduced with increasing levels of warming. In
other words, model projections tend to converge when there is a
stronger climate change signal. Projected future population levels
and the scale of economic activity have a major impact on indices
of water scarcity and availability: a larger population reduces
water availability per person, all other circumstances being equal.
Gerten et al. (2011) investigate the changes in water availability
per capita. Considering the impacts of climate change alone,35 they
drive a hydrological model with a large ensemble of CMIP3, or
earlier generation, climate models. For the 2080s (with a globalmean warming of 3.5°C above pre-industrial levels), they found
decreases in green water availability of about 20 percent relative
to 1971–2000 over most of Africa36 and increases of about 20 percent
for parts of East Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya). Although
green water availability and the Aridity Index assessed in Chapter
3 under “Aridity” are driven by different measures of demand,
the analysis undertaken for this report found a strong consistency
between the patterns of decreased green water availability and
increased aridity across Africa. Gerten et al. (2011) further assessed
changes in blue water availability, indicating a 10–20 percent
increase in East Africa, Central Africa, and parts of West Africa.
The latter is not fully consistent with the more recent multi-model
studies discussed below and in Chapter 3 under “Crops”, which
found a decrease of blue water availability over virtually all of
West Africa (Schewe et al. 2013). Taken together and assuming
a constant population, most of East Africa and Central Africa

where the extraction is equal to the long-term average groundwater recharge. If the
recharge equals or exceeds use, it can be said to be sufficient.
34 The threats are defined using expert assessment of stressor impacts on human
water security and biodiversity, using two distinctly weighted sets of 23 geospatial
drivers organized under four themes (catchment disturbance, pollution, water
resource development, and biotic factors). The threat scale is defined with respect
to the percentiles of the resulting threat distribution (e.g., moderate threat level
(0.5), very high threat (0.75)).
35 In this scenario, population is held constant at the year 2000 level under the
SRESA2 scenario (arriving at 4.1°C by the end of the century).
36 South Africa is excluded because changes were found to be insignificant.

show an increase of total green and blue water availability, while
Southern Africa and most of West Africa is expected to experience
reductions of up to 50 percent. If projected population increases
are taken into account, these results indicate with high consensus
among models that there is at least a 10-percent reduction in total
water availability per capita for all of Sub-Saharan Africa.
A scarcity index can be defined by relating the total green
and blue water availability to the amount needed to produce a
standard diet and taking into account population growth. For East
Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and most of
West Africa, the scarcity index indicates that these countries are
very likely to become water scarce; most of Southern Africa is
still unlikely to be water scarce.37 In the latter case, this is mainly
because of much lower projections of population growth than for
the other parts of the region, with at most a twofold increase (compared to a fourfold increase for the Sub-Saharan African average).
It should be noted that the study by Gerten et al. assumes that
the CO2 fertilization effect reduces the amount of water needed
to produce a standard diet. The CO2 fertilization effect, however,
and therefore the extent to which the effect of potential water
shortages might be offset by the CO2 fertilization effect, remain
very uncertain. Without CO2 fertilization, Gerten et al. (2011) note
that water scarcity deepens, including in South Africa and Sudan,
and adds countries like Mauritania, the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar to the list of African countries
very likely to be water scarce.
For many countries, the estimate of water availability at the
country level may imply that a large portion of its population could
still suffer from water shortages because of a lack of sufficient waterrelated infrastructure among other reasons (Rockström et al. 2009).
In a more recent study of water availability, Schewe et al.
(2013) use a large ensemble of the most recent CMIP5 generation
of climate models combined with nine hydrological models. They
investigate the annual discharge (that is, runoff accumulated along
the river network) for different levels of warming during the 21st
century under the high warming scenario (RCP8.5 ~3.5°C above
pre-industrial levels by 2060–80).38
Under 2.7°C warming above pre-industrial levels within regions
with a strong level of model agreement (60–80 percent)—Ghana,
Côte d’Ivoire, and southern Nigeria—decreases in annual runoff
of 30–50 percent are projected. For southern Africa, where there
is much greater consensus among impact models, decreases
of 30–50 percent are found, especially in Namibia, east Angola,
and western South Africa (all of which feature arid climates),
Madagascar, and Zambia; there are also local increases. Large
uncertainties remain for many regions (e.g., along the coast of
Namibia, Angola and in the central Democratic Republic of Congo).
With over 80-percent model consensus, there is a projected increase
of annual discharge of about 50 percent in East Africa (especially
southern Somalia, Kenya, and southern Ethiopia).
36

This multi-model study found that the largest source of uncertainty in West Africa and East Africa results from the variance
across climate models, while in Southern Africa both climate
and hydrological models contribute to uncertainty. Uncertainty
in hydrological models dominates in western South Africa and in
the western Democratic Republic of Congo.
These projected regional changes are enhanced by up to a
factor of two for a warming of ~3.5°C above pre-industrial levels,
compared to 2.7°C warming above pre-industrial levels, and there
is more consensus across the models. These findings are consistent
with the changes in aridity previously discussed.
While these broad patterns are consistent with earlier studies,
there are important differences. For example, Fung, Lopez, and
New (2011) and Arnell et al. (2011) found even more pronounced
decreases in Southern Africa of up to 80 percent for a warming
of 4°C above 1961–90 levels (which corresponds to ~4.4°C above
pre-industrial levels). Gosling et al. (2010) use one hydrological
model with a large ensemble of climate models for a range of
prescribed temperature increases. The projections for 4°C warming relative to 1961–90 (which corresponds to ~4.4°C above
pre-industrial levels) are largely consistent with the findings of
Schewe et al. (2013), albeit with some regional differences (e.g.,
more rather than less runoff in Tanzania and northern Somalia).
In general, effects are found to be amplified in a 4°C world
toward the end of the 21st century and, with population growth
scenarios projecting steady increases in the region, large parts
of Sub-Saharan Africa are projected to face water scarcity (Fung
et al. 2011). To help alleviate vulnerability to changes in surface
water, the more resilient groundwater resources can act as a buffer—if used sustainably under population growth. However, SubSaharan Africa has mostly small discontinuous aquifers; because
of a lack of geologic assessments as well as projected increased
future land use, large uncertainties about their yields remain.
Furthermore, with regions such as South Africa facing a strong
decrease in groundwater recharges (Kundzewicz and Döll 2009),
the opportunities to balance the effects of more variable surface
water flows by groundwater are severely restricted.

The Role of Groundwater
As noted before, groundwater can provide a buffer against climate
change impacts on water resources, because it is relatively more
resilient to moderate levels of climate change in comparison to surface

37 Large parts of Sub-Sahara Africa (except for Senegal, The Gambia, Burkina Faso,

Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Malawi) are projected to be very
unlikely to be water scarce by 2100 in the A2 scenario, for a constant population,
due to climate change alone.
38 Note that Schewe et al. (2013) only discuss annual discharges; the distribution
of discharges across the season can have severe impacts.

S ub -S aharan A frica : F ood P roduction at R isk

water resources (Kundzewicz and Döll 2009). Döll (2009) studies
groundwater recharge for 2041–79 compared to the 1961–90 average
using two climate models for the SRES A2 and B2 scenarios (globalmean warming 2.3°C and 2.1°C respectively above pre-industrial
levels). For both scenarios, Döll finds a decrease in recharge rates
of 50–70 percent in western Southern Africa and southern West
Africa, while the recharge rate would increase in some parts of eastern
Southern Africa and East Africa by around +30 percent. Note that
these increases might be overestimated, as the increased occurrence
of heavy rains, which are likely in East Africa (Sillmann, Kharin,
Zwiers, Zhang, and Bronaugh, 2013), lowers actual groundwater
recharge because of infiltration limits which are not considered in
this study. MacDonald et al. (2009) also note that increased rainfall,
especially heavy rainfall—as is projected for East Africa—is likely to
lead to contamination of shallow groundwater as water tables rise
and latrines flood, or as pollutants are washed into wells.
Döll (2009) determine the affected regions in western Southern Africa and southern West Africa as highly vulnerable when
defining vulnerability as the product of a decrease in groundwater recharge and a measure of sensitivity to water scarcity. The
sensitivity index is composed of a water scarcity indicator as an
indicator of dependence of water supply on groundwater and the
Human Development Index.
The prospects of alleviating surface water scarcity by using
groundwater are severely restricted for those areas where not only
surface water availability but also groundwater recharge is reduced
because of climate change (as is the case for western Southern
Africa and southern West Africa) (Kundzewicz and Döll 2009).
Apart from uncertainty in precipitation projections in Döll (2009),
which only used two climate models as drivers, sources of uncertainty lie in the hydrological model used and the lack of knowledge
about groundwater aquifers (MacDonald et al. 2009). A further
uncertainty relates to changes in land use because of agriculture,
which responds differently to changes in precipitation compared to
natural ecosystems (R G Taylor et al. 2012). There is more certainty
about rises in groundwater extraction in absolute terms resulting
from population growth, which threatens to overexploit groundwater
resources, particularly in semiarid regions where projected increases
of droughts, as well as the projected expansion of irrigated land,
is expected to intensify groundwater demand (Taylor et al. 2012).

It is widely accepted that agricultural production in Sub-Saharan
Africa is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change
because of a number of environmental characteristics (Barrios,
Outtara, and Strobl 2008). Sub-Saharan Africa is characterized by
large differences in water availability because of the diversity of
geographical conditions. While the tropics are humid throughout
the year, rainfall in the subtropics is limited to the wet season(s).
Further poleward, the semiarid regions rely on the wet seasons
for water and, together with the arid regions, receive little runoff
from permanent water sources. This is exacerbated by high temperatures and dry soils, which absorb more moisture. Average
runoff is therefore about 15-percent lower in Sub-Saharan Africa
than in any other continent (Barrios et al. 2008). As the tropical
regions are not suitable for crop production, crop production in
Sub-Saharan Africa is typically located in semiarid regions. The
same holds for livestock production, which for animals other than
pigs, is not practiced in humid regions because of susceptibility of
diseases and low digestibility of associated grasses (Barrios et al.
2008; see Figure 3.12). This, taken together with the fact that less
than 4 percent of cultivated area in Sub-Saharan Africa is irrigated
(You et al. 2010), makes food production systems highly reliant
on rainfall and thus vulnerable to climatic changes, particularly
to changes in precipitation and the occurrence of drought.

Figure 3.12: Crop land in Sub-Saharan Africa in year 2000

Agricultural Production
Agriculture is often seen as the most weather dependent and
climate-sensitive human activity. It is particularly exposed to
weather conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 97 percent of total
crop land is rainfed (Calzadilla et al. 2009). Given that 60 percent
of the labor force is involved in the agricultural sector, livelihoods
are also exposed (Collier, Conway, and Venables 2008).

The following render agricultural productivity critically vulnerable to climate change: high dependence on precipitation combined with observed crop sensitivities to maximum temperatures
during the growing season (Asseng et al. 2011; David B Lobell,
Schlenker, and Costa-Roberts 2011a; Schlenker and Roberts 2009);
varying and often uncertain responses to factors such as increasing
CO2 concentration; and low adaptive capacities (Müller 2013). As
a consequence, climate change is expected to affect agriculture
by reducing the area suitable for agriculture, altering the growing season length, and reducing the yield potential (Kotir 2011;
Thornton, Jones, Ericksen, and Challinor 2011a). The impacts of
extreme events are as yet uncertain but are expected to be significant (Rötter, Carter, Olesen, and Porter 2011).
Africa has already seen declines in per capita agricultural output
in recent decades, especially for staple foods; the most important
staple foods are cassava, rice, soybean, wheat, maize, pearl millet,
and sorghum (Adesina 2010; Liu et al. 2008). Important factors
include high levels of population growth, volatile weather, and climatic conditions that have seen droughts or flooding destroy or limit
harvests. A number of other factors have also contributed, including
use of low-productivity technologies and limited and costly access
to modern inputs (Adesina 2010). Levels of malnutrition39 are high,
partly as a result of this limited productivity and the high dependence
on domestic production. The prevalence of malnutrition among children under five exceeds 21 percent (2011 data; World Bank 2013n)
and one in three people in Sub-Saharan Africa is chronically hungry
(Schlenker and Lobell 2010). The prevalence of undernutrition in
Sub-Saharan Africa has decreased only slightly since the 1990s,
from 32.8 percent (1990–92) to 26.8 percent (projections for 2010–12;
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2012a).
An important factor remains: the yield potential of arable land
in Sub-Saharan Africa is significantly higher than actually achieved
(see Figure 3.13). Factors that limit yield differ across regions and
crops. For example, nutrient availability is the limiting factor for
maize in Western Africa, while water availability is an important
co-limiting factor in East Africa (Mueller et al. 2012).
The agricultural areas in Sub-Saharan Africa that have been
identified as the most vulnerable to the exposure of changes in
climatic conditions are the mixed semiarid systems in the Sahel,
arid and semiarid rangeland in parts of eastern Africa, the systems
in the Great Lakes region of eastern Africa, the coastal regions of
eastern Africa, and many of the drier zones of southern Africa
(Thornton et al. 2006). Faures and Santini (2008) state that relative
poverty, which limits adaptive capacities of the local population
and thus increases vulnerability, is generally highest in highland
temperate, pastoral, and agro-pastoral areas. Those areas classified
in the study as highland temperate areas include, for example,
Lesotho and the highlands of Ethiopia and Angola; the pastoral
zones include much of Namibia, Botswana, and the Horn of
Africa; and the agro-pastoral zones include parts of the Sahel
38

Figure 3.13: Average “yield gap” (difference between potential
and achieved yields) for maize, wheat, and rice for the
year 2000

region and of Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia,
Kenya, and Somalia.
Although (changes in) rainfall patterns are crucial for the Sahel
region and a drying since the 1960s is well documented (Box 3.2),
climate model projections of precipitation in this region diverge
widely even in the sign of future change, not just for the generation of models at the time of IPCC’s AR4 but also for the latest
CMIP5 generation of models used for AR5 (Roehrig et al. 2012).
Sahel rainfall is closely linked to sea-surface temperatures in the
39 Defined as a physical condition that is caused by the interaction of an inadequate

diet and infection, and of which under-nutrition or insufficient food energy intake
is one form (Liu et al. 2008; Roudier et al. 2011).

S ub -S aharan A frica : F ood P roduction at R isk

Box 3.2: The Sahel Region
The Sahel, often cited in the literature as a highly vulnerable area, is a belt of land located between the Sahara desert to the north and tropical
forests to the south, with the landscape shifting between semiarid grassland and savanna (Sissoko, Van Keulen, Verhagen, Tekken, and Battaglini 2011). Water is scarce and the soil quality is poor, in part because of human-induced degradation. While the exact nature and cause of
observed changes in patterns of rainfall in this region is debatable, there appears to have been an overall shift toward increased temperatures
and lower annual average rainfall since the 1960s in the semiarid regions of West Africa (Kotir 2011). These conditions have undermined agricultural production in the region since the 1970s (Barrios et al. 2008). The high levels of climatic risk and relative scarcity of natural resources
makes livelihoods in areas such as the Sahel particularly precarious. The repercussions of a climatic disruption to agriculture for affected
populations may be more severe here, where people are living nearer the margins of subsistence, than in areas with more abundant resources
(Roncoli, Ingram, and Kirshen 2001).

equatorial Atlantic, which are set to increase under global warming (Roehrig et al. 2012), with local rainfall changes amplified by
land-surface feedbacks, including vegetation patterns (Giannini et
al. 2008). Anthropogenic aerosols over the North Atlantic, however,
may have contributed to historic Sahel drying (Rotstayn and Lohmann 2002; Ackerley et al. 2011; Booth et al. 2012), so that drying might
be alleviated as aerosol emissions in the Northern Hemisphere are
reduced due to air-quality policy or low-carbon development. Total
rainfall has recovered somewhat from the 1980s, although there
are indications that precipitation frequency has remained at a low
level while individual rainfall events have become more intense
(Giannini et al. 2008). This is consistent with a basic understanding of a warming world that increases the moisture capacity of the
atmosphere and leads to more intense precipitation events.

Crops
Climate change is expected to affect crop yields through a range
of factors.

Climatic Risk Factors
One risk factor to which the region is exposed is increasing temperature. High temperature sensitivity thresholds for important
crops such as maize, wheat, and sorghum have been observed, with
large yield reductions once the threshold is exceeded (Luo 2011).
Maize, which is one of the most common crops in Sub-Saharan
Africa, has been found to have a particularly high sensitivity
to temperatures above 30°C within the growing season. Each
day in the growing season spent at a temperature above 30°C
reduces yields by one percent compared to optimal, drought-free
rainfed conditions (David B Lobell, Schlenker et al. 2011). The
optimal temperature of wheat, another common crop, is generally
between 15 and 20°C, depending on the varieties of wheat. The
annual average temperature across Sub-Saharan Africa is already
above the optimal temperature for wheat during the growing season
(Liu et al. 2008), and it is expected to increase further. Increases

in temperature may translate into non-linear changes in crop
yields when high temperature thresholds are crossed. Long-term
impacts (toward the end of the 21st century) could be more than
twice those in the shorter term to 2050 (Berg, De Noblet-Ducoudré,
Sultan, Lengaigne, and Guimberteau 2012).
Drought represents a continuing threat to agriculture, and
Africa might be the region most affected by drought-caused
yield reductions in the future (Müller, Cramer, Hare, and LotzeCampen 2011). Recent projections by Dai (2012) indicate that the
Sahel and southern Africa are likely to experience substantially
increased drought risk in future decades. Rainfall variability on
intra-seasonal, inter-annual, and inter-decadal scales may also
be a critical source of risk (Mishra et al. 2008). Some studies find
that in Sub-Saharan Africa the temporal distribution of rainfall
is more significant than the total amount (for example, Wheeler
et al. 2005, cited in Laux, Jäckel, Tingem, and Kunstmann 2010).
Another factor that could play a role for future agricultural productivity is plant disease. Climate extremes can alter the ecology of
plant pathogens, and higher soil temperatures can promote fungal
growth that kills seedlings (Patz, Olson, Uejo, and Gibbs 2008).
One of the major sources of discrepancy between projections
of crop yields lies in the disagreement over the relative significance
of temperature and precipitation (see Lobell and Burke 2008 on
this debate). Assessing the relative role of temperature and rainfall is difficult as the two variables are closely linked and interact
(Douville, Salaa-Melia, and Tyteca 2006). The significance of
each may vary according to geographical area. For example,
Berg et al. (2012) find that yield changes in arid zones appear to
be mainly driven by rainfall changes; in contrast, yield appears
proportional to temperature in equatorial and temperate zones.
Similarly, Batisane and Yarnal (2010) find that rainfall variability
is the most important factor limiting dryland agriculture; this
may not be so elsewhere. Levels of rainfall variability that would
be considered low in some climate regions, such as 50 mm, can
mean the difference between a good harvest and crop failure in
semi-arid regions with rainfed agriculture.
39

CO2 Fertilization Effect Uncertainty
Whether the CO2 fertilization effect is taken into account in crop
models also influences outcomes, with the studies that include it
generally more optimistic than those that do not. The CO2 fertilization effect may increase the rate of photosynthesis and water use
efficiency, thereby producing increases in grain mass and number;
this may offset to some extent the negative impacts of climate change
(see Laux et al. 2010 and Liu et al. 2008). Crop yield and total production projections differ quite significantly depending on whether
the potential CO2 fertilization effect is strong, weak, or absent. See
Chapter 3 on “Agricultural Production” for further discussion of the
CO2 fertilization effect.

Projected Changes in Crop Yields
Many recent studies examining one or more climatic risk factors predict project significant damage to agricultural yields in Sub-Saharan
Africa. These include Knox, Hess, Daccache, and Ortola (2011),
Ericksen et al. (2011), Thornton, Jones, Ericksen, and Challinor (2011),
and Schlenker and Lobell (2010). However, crop modeling suggests
that there can be positive as well as negative impacts on agriculture
in Africa, and impacts are expected to vary according to farm type
and crop type (Müller et al. 2011) and depending on whether or not
adaptation is assumed (Müller 2013). Müller (2013), in a literature
review of African crop productivity under climate change, points
out that uncertainty in projections increases with the level of detail
in space and time. Despite uncertainties, Müller (2013) emphasizes
that there is a very substantial risk based on projections of a substantial reduction in yield in Africa. According to Müller (2013), yield
reductions in the near term, while often not as severe as in the long
term, are particularly alarming as they leave only little time to adapt.
A substantial risk of large negative impacts on crop yields in the
West African region, with a median 11-percent reduction by the 2080s,
is found in recent meta-analysis of 16 different studies (Roudier et
al. 2011). The West African region presently holds over 40 percent
of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population and over half of the area for
cereal, root, and tuber crops. Rainfall in West Africa depends on the
West African monsoon, for which climate change projections differ
widely. Some project a drier climate and some a wetter climate,
which is reflected in the broad range of yield projections.
Larger impacts are found in the northern parts of West Africa,
with a median 18-percent reduction in yield projected, compared
to the southern West African region, with 13-percent reductions.
Dry cereal production in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and
The Gambia is expected to be more severely affected than those
in Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cameroon,
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Côte d’Ivoire, with relative changes of
–18 percent and –13 percent respectively. This difference can be
explained by a greater warming over continental Africa, the Sahel,
and the Sahara in particular, compared to the western parts of the
region (where temperatures are expected to increase more slowly).
40

Impacts are expressed as percent changes relative to current conditions; bar
width represents spatial scale of the assessment, colors denote the model type
employed (statistical in orange, econometric in purple, and process-based in
green). Seo08 refers to the livestock sector only; Tho10 reports pixel-based
results only for a random selection of strongly impacted pixels; Sch10 shows
country data only for maize; Wal08 employs stylized scenarios that are
representative for the climate in 2070–2100; Tan10 refers to NE Ghana only;
Gai11 and Sri12 refer to Upper Ouémé basin in the Republic of Benin only.
Source: Müller (2013). The reference information for the studies included in this
graph can be found in Appendix 4.
From Müller C. (2013). African lessons on climate change risks for agriculture.
Annual Reviews of Nutrition, 33, 1-35. ANNUAL REVIEW OF NUTRITION by Darby,
William J. ; Broquist, Harry P. ; Olson, Robert E. Reproduced with permission of
ANNUAL REVIEWS in the format Republish in a book via Copyright Clearance
Center. Further permission required for reuse.” after “... Copyright Clearance Center.

Consistent with other work, this review finds that negative
impacts on production are intensified with higher levels of warming (Roudier et al. 2011). It finds close to zero or small negative
changes for the 2020s for most scenarios (1.1–1.3°C above preindustrial levels globally); median losses in the order of –5 percent
by the 2050s (1.6–2.2°C above pre-industrial levels globally);
and, for the 2080s, a range of reductions of around –5 percent to
–20 percent, with the median reduction being greater than 10 percent (2.4–4.3°C above pre-industrial levels globally).
The smallest reductions or largest increases are with the
CO2 fertilization effect taken into account and the greatest reductions are all without it. Analyzing the subset of studies, which also
account for CO2 fertilization, Roudier et al. (2011) find that the
CO2 fertilization effect, which is particularly strong in high emission scenarios and for such C3 crops as soybean and groundnut,
leads to significant differences in projections. It may even reverse
the direction of impacts. However, major crops in West Africa
are C4 crops, such as maize, millet, and sorghum, for which the
CO2 fertilization effect is less pronounced, so that the positive
effect may be overestimated (Roudier et al. 2011).

S ub -S aharan A frica : F ood P roduction at R isk

Schlenker and Lobell (2010) estimated the impacts of climate
change on five key African crops, which are among the most
important calorie, protein, and fat providers in Sub-Saharan Africa:
maize, sorghum, millet, groundnuts, and cassava (rice and wheat
are excluded from the study as they are usually irrigated). They
estimated country-level yields for the 2050s (2046–65) by obtaining future temperature and precipitation changes from 16 GCMs
for the A1B SRES scenario and by applying these future changes
to two historical weather data series (1961 to 2000 and 2002,
respectively) with regression analysis. In this study, for a 2050s
global-mean warming of about 2.2°C above pre-industrial levels the
median impacts across Sub-Saharan Africa on the yield of maize,
sorghum, millet, groundnut, and cassava40 are projected to be negative, resulting in aggregate changes of –22 percent, –17 percent,
–17 percent, –18 percent, and –8 percent. This important work also
estimates the probability of yield reductions, which is useful for
risk assessments looking at the tales of the probability distribution
of likely future changes. It finds a 95-percent probability that the
yield change will be greater than –7 percent for maize, sorghum,
millet, and groundnut, with a 5-percent probability that damages
will exceed 27 percent for these crops.41 The results further indicate
that the changes in temperature appear likely to have a much stronger impact on crop yield than projected changes in precipitation.
The negative results of this work for sorghum are reinforced
by more recent work by Ramirez-Villegas, Jarvis, and Läderach
(2011). They find significant negative impacts on sorghum suitability in the western Sahelian region and in Southern Africa in
this timeframe, which corresponds to a warming of about 1.5°C
above pre-industrial levels globally.42
In interpreting the significance and robustness of these results
there are a number of important methodological caveats. It should
be kept in mind that the methodological approach of Schlenker
& Lobell (2010) does not consider the potential fertilization effect
of increased CO2 concentration, which might improve projected
results. However, maize, sorghum, and millet are C4 crops with
a lower sensitivity to higher levels of CO2 than other crops. The
authors also do not take into account any potential future developments in technology, shifts in the growing season as a potential
adaptation measure, or potential changes in rainfall distribution
within growing seasons (though temperature has been identified
as the major driver of changes in crop yield in this study). Further,
a potential disadvantage of the panel data used by Schlenker and
Lobell (2010) is that responses to permanent changes in climatic
conditions might be different compared to responses to weather
shocks, which are measured by the observational data. The estimates presented should be assumed as conservative, but relevant
as a comparison of predicted impacts on maize yields to previous
studies (Schlenker and Lobell 2010).
Further evidence of the potential for substantial yield declines
in Sub-Saharan Africa comes from a different methodological

approach applied by Berg et al. (2012). Berg et al. assess the
potential for impacts on the crop productivity on one of the most
important staple foods, a C4 millet cultivar, in a tropical domain,
including Africa and India, for the middle (2020–49) and end of
the century (2070–99), compared to the 1970–99 baseline. Across
both regions and for all climatic zones considered, the overall
decline in productivity of millet was –6 percent (with a range of
–29 to +11 percent) for the highest levels of warming by the 2080s.
Changes in mean annual yield are consistently negative in the
equatorial zones and, to a lesser extent, in the temperate zones
under both climate change scenarios and both time horizons.
A robust long-term decline in yield in the order of 16–19 percent
is projected for the equatorial fully humid climate zone (which
includes the Guinean region of West Africa, central Africa, and
most parts of East Africa) under the SRESA1B scenario (3.6°C
above pre-industrial levels globally) and the SRESA2 scenario
(4.4°C), respectively, for 2100. Although projected changes for the
mid-century are smaller, changes are evident and non-negligible,
around 7 percent under the A1B – (2.1°C) and –6 percent under
the A2 (1.8°C) scenario for the equatorial fully humid zone.
The approach of Berg et al. (2012) accounts for the potential
of an atmospheric CO2 effect on C4 crop productivity for the
A2 scenario; the projections show that, across all models, the
fertilization effect is limited (between 1.6 percent for the equatorial
fully humid zone and 6.8 percent for the arid zone). This finding
is consistent with the results of prior studies.
The yield declines by Berg et al. (2012) are likely to be optimistic in the sense that the approach taken is to estimate effects
based on assumptions that are not often achieved in practice:
for example, optimal crop management is assumed as well as a
positive CO2 fertilization effect. Berg et al. (2012) also point out
that the potential to increase yields in Sub-Saharan Africa through
improved agricultural practices is substantial and would more
than compensate for the potential losses resulting from climate
change. When considering annual productivity changes, higher
temperatures may facilitate shorter but more frequent crop cycles
within a year. If sufficient water is available, no changes in total
annual yield would occur, as declining yields per crop cycle are
compensated by an increasing number of cycles (Berg et al. 2012).
As this much-needed progress has not been seen in past decades,
it can be assumed that climate change will represent a serious
additional burden for food security in the region.

40 Note that the model fit for cassava is poor because of its weakly defined grow-

ing season.
41 These are damages projected for the period 2045–2065, compared to the

period 1961–2006.
42 The authors use an empirical model (EcoCrop) and analyze the impact of the

SRESA1B scenario driven by 24 general circulation models in the 2030s for sorghum
climate suitability.

Reductions in the Length of the Growing Period
A recent study conducted by Thornton et al. (2011) reinforces the
emerging picture from the literature of a large risk of substantial
declines in crop productivity with increasing warming. This work
projects changes in the average length of growing periods across
Sub-Saharan Africa, defined as the period in which temperature
and moisture conditions are conducive to crop development, the
season failure rate, and the climate change impact on specific
crops.43 The projections are relatively robust for large areas of
central and eastern Sub-Saharan Africa (20 percent or less variability in climate models) and more uncertain for West Africa
and parts of southern Africa (variability of climate models up
to 40 percent) and for southwest Africa and the desert in the north
(more than 50 percent variability).
The length of the growing period is projected to be reduced
by more than 20 percent across the whole region by the 2090s
(for a global-mean warming of 5.4°C above pre-industrial levels);
the only exceptions are parts of Kenya and Tanzania, where the
growing season length may moderately increase by 5–20 percent.
The latter is not expected to translate into increased crop production; instead, a reduction of 19 percent is projected for maize
and 47 percent for beans, while no (or only a slightly) positive
change is projected for pasture grass (Thornton et al. 2011). Over
much of the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa, reductions for maize range
from –13 to –24 percent, and for beans from –69 to –87 percent,
respectively, but the variability among different climate models is
larger than the variability for East Africa. The season failure rate
is projected to increase across the whole region, except for central
Africa. For southern Africa, below the latitude of 15°S, Thornton
et al. (2011) project that rainfed agriculture would fail once every
two years absent adaptation.
Another risk outlined in the study by Philip K Thornton, Jones,
Ericksen, and Challinor (2011) is that areas may transition from
arid-semiarid, rainfed, mixed cropland to arid-semiarid rangeland,
with consequential loss of cropland production. The authors
project that about 5 percent of the area in Sub-Saharan Africa
(some 1.2 million km²) is at risk of such a shift in a 5°C world;
this would represent a significant loss of cropland.

Relative Resilience of Sequential Cropping Systems
Waha et al. (2012) identify and assess traditional sequential cropping systems44 in seven Sub-Saharan African countries in terms of
their susceptibility to climate change.45 Compared to single-cropping
systems, multiple-cropping systems reduce the risk of complete
crop failure and allow for growing several crops in one growing
season. Thus, multiple cropping, which is a common indigenous
agricultural practice, is a potential adaptation strategy to improve
agricultural productivity and food security.
The study by Waha et al. (2012) finds that, depending on the
agricultural management system and the respective climate change
42

scenario, projected crop yields averaged over all locations included
in the analysis decrease between 6–24 percent for 2070–99. Projections indicate that the decline is lowest for traditional sequential
cropping systems (the sequential cropping system most frequently
applied in the respective district is composed of two short-growing
crop cultivars) as compared to single cropping systems (only one
long-growing cultivar) and highest-yielding sequential cropping
systems (a sequential cropping system composed of two shortgrowing crop cultivars with the highest yields).46 There are significant spatial differences. While maize and wheat-based traditional
sequential cropping systems in such countries as Kenya and South
Africa might see yield increases of more than 25 percent, traditional
sequential cropping systems based on rice in Burkina Faso and on
groundnut in Ghana and Cameroon are expected to see declines
of at least 25 percent (Waha et al. 2012).
The study indicates that sequential cropping is the preferable
option (versus single cropping systems) under changing climatic
conditions. However, the survey data show that farmers apply
sequential cropping in only 35 percent of the administrative units
studied and, in some countries, such as Senegal, Niger, and Ethiopia, growing seasons are too short for sequential cropping. Waha
et al. (2012) point out that the high labor intensity of sequential
cropping systems, lack of knowledge, and lack of market access are
also reasons for not using sequential cropping. Capacity development and improvements in market access have been identified in
the scientific literature as likely support mechanisms to promote
climate change adaptation.

43 The study uses three SRES scenarios, A2, A1B, and B1, and 14 GCMs and increased

both the spatial and temporal resolution of the model with historical gridded climate
data from WorldClim and daily temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation data
by using MarkSim (a third-order Markov rainfall generator). Crop simulations are
projected by the models in the decision support system for agro-technology transfer.
44 Waha et al. (2012) define this as “a cropping system with two crops grown on the
same field in sequence during one growing season with or without a fallow period.
A specific case is double cropping with the same crop grown twice on the field.”
See their Table 1 for definitions of different systems.
45 For their assessment, Waha et al. (2012) use historical climate data for the 30-year
period 1971–2000 and climate projections for 2070–2099 generated by three GCMs
(MPI-ECHAM5, UKMO-HadCM3, and NCAR-CCSM3) for the A2 SRES emissions
scenario (global-mean warming of 3°C for 2070–2099 above pre-industrial levels).
Atmospheric CO2 concentrations are kept constant in the study. Growing periods and
different cropping systems are identified from a household survey dataset, encompassing almost 8,700 households. To simulate yields of different crop cultivars, a
process-based global vegetation model (LPJmL) is applied.
46 On average, single cropping systems only attain 38–54 percent of crop calorific
yields of sequential cropping systems). While the highest-yielding sequential cropping
systems do obtain higher absolute yields, traditional sequential cropping systems are
more resilient to climate change impacts. Further, the results indicate that adjusting
the sowing dates to the start of the main rainy season is beneficial, as mean future
crop yields are higher than in corresponding scenarios where sowing dates are kept
constant with only few exceptions. Exceptions may be explained by the fact that
temperature and precipitation are the limiting factors in the respective region, which
is especially the case in mountainous areas (Waha et al. 2012)

Maps in the last column show the systems with lowest crop yield declines or highest crop yields increases. White areas in Sub-Saharan Africa are excluded because
the crop area is smaller than 0.001 percent of the grid cell area or the growing season length is less than five months. The high standard deviation in Southern Africa is
mainly determined by the large difference in climate projections.
Source: Waha et al. (2012).
Reprinted from Global Environmental Change, 23, Waha et al., Adaptation to climate change through the choice of cropping system and sowing date in sub-Saharan
Africa, 130-143, Copyright (2013), with permission from Elsevier. Further permission required for reuse.

Shifting Crop Climates
A different perspective on risks to crop production can be gained
by looking at the changes in land area suitable for different kinds
of crops under climate change. This method does not specifically
calculate changes to crop production. It can show the changes in

regional distribution of suitable crop areas, as well as the emergence
of novel climates that are quite dissimilar from the climatic zones
in which crops are presently grown. The latter is also an indicator
of risk as it implies a need to adjust agricultural practices, crop
cultivars, and policies to new climatic regimes.
43

Applying this framework, Burke, Lobell, and Guarino (2009)
estimated shifts in crop climates for maize, millet, and sorghum.
They find that the majority of Sub-Saharan African countries
are projected to be characterized by novel climatic conditions in
more than half of the current crop areas by 2050 (see below), for
a warming of about 2.1°C above pre-industrial levels.47
Increasing warming leads to greater fractions of cropping area
being subject to novel climatic conditions. For specific crops, Burke
et al. (2009) estimate that the growing season temperature for any
given maize crop area in Africa will overlap48 on average 58 percent
with observations of historical conditions by 2025 (corresponding
approximately to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels), 14 percent
by 2050 (2.1°C), and only 3 percent by 2075 (3°C). For millet,
the projected overlaps are 54 percent, 12 percent, and 2 percent,
respectively; for sorghum 57 percent, 15 percent, and 3 percent.
Departures from historical precipitation conditions are significantly
smaller than those for temperature (Burke et al. 2009).
In a second step in this analysis, present and projected crop
climates are compared within and among countries in order to
determine to what extent the future climate already exists in the
same or in another country on the continent. Diminishing climate
overlap means that current cultivars would become progressively
less suitable for the crop areas.
If, as this study suggests, some African countries (mostly in
the Sahel) could as early as 2050 have novel climates with few
analogs for any crop, it might not be possible to transfer suitable
cultivars from elsewhere in the world. Formal breeding of improved
crop varieties probably has an important role to play in adaptation.
However, current breeding programs are likely to be insufficient
for adapting to the severe shifts in crop climates projected and,
given the quick changes of growing season temperatures, a severe
time lag for the development of suitable crops can be expected
(Burke et al. 2009).

Implications for Food Security
A recent assessment by Nelson and colleagues is a fully integrated
attempt to estimate global crop production consequences of climate
change. Nelson et al. (2009, 2010)49 estimate the direct effects
of climate change on the production of different crops with and
without the effect of CO2 fertilization under a global-mean warming of about 1.8–2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050. Without
climate change, crop production is projected to increase significantly
by 2050; however, the population is projected to nearly triple by that
time. Consequently, per capita cereal production is projected to be
about 10 percent lower in 2050 than in 2000. When food trade is
taken into account, the net effect is a reduction in food availability
per capita (measured as calories per capita) by about 15 percent
compared to the availability in 2000. There is also an associated
projected increase in malnutrition in children under the age of five.
Without climate change, the number of children with malnutrition is
44

Figure 3.16: Percentage overlap between the current
(1993–2002 average) distribution of growing season
temperatures as recorded within a country and the
simulated 2050 distribution of temperatures in the same country

projected to increase from 33 million to 42 million; climate change
adds a further 10 million children by 2050.
In summary, there is substantial evidence that climate change
impacts may have detrimental effects on agricultural yields in

47 Projections of temperature and precipitation change are derived from the 18 climate

models running the A1B scenario, which lead to temperatures approximately 1.6°C
in 2050 above 1980–99 temperatures globally (2.1°C above pre-industrial levels). The
projections are based on a comparison of historical (1960–2002) climatic conditions
at a specific location, crop area, and months constituting the growing season with
the projected climate for that location for different time slices.
48 An overlap occurs when land on which a crop is presently growing overlaps with
the land area projected to be suitable for growing that crop type at a later time under
a changed climate. In other words, the overlap area is an area where the crop type
is presently grown and which continues to be suitable under a changed climate. A
present crop growing region that is not in an overlap area is one in which the future
climate is projected to be unsuitable for that crop type.
49 The estimates are based on the global agriculture supply and demand model
IMPACT 2009, which is linked to the biophysical crop model DSSAT. Climate
change projections are based on the NCAR and CSIRO models and the A2 SRES
emissions scenario leading to a global mean warming of about 2.0°C above preindustrial levels by 2050 (Nelson et al. 2009, 2010). To capture the uncertainty in
the CO2 fertilization effect, simulations are conducted at two levels of atmospheric
CO2 in 2050—the year 2000 level of 369 ppm (called the no-CO2 fertilization scenario)
and the projected level in 2050 of 532 ppm under the SRES A2 scenario (termed the
with-CO2 fertilization scenario).

S ub -S aharan A frica : F ood P roduction at R isk

Table 3.3: Sub-Saharan Africa crop production projections

Crop Production
(Year 2000 mmt)

Crop as % of
Total 2000

Crop Production 2050 –
No Climate Change (mmt)

Crop Production 2050 – with
Climate Change and no
CO2 Fertilization Effect (mmt)

Rice

8

9%

18

Wheat

5

6%

11

7

Maize

37

46%

54

49

Millet

13

16%

48

45

Sorghum

19

23%

60

59

81

100%

192

176

111

101

Total
kg/capita
Calories per capita
Total population (million)
Net cereal exports (mmt)
Value of net cereal trade (million $)
Malnutrition (millions of children under 5)

122

16

2316

2452

1928

666

1,732

1,732

–23

–65

–29

–$2,995

–$12,870

–$11,034

33

42

52

Source: Nelson et al. (2010).Based on the global agriculture supply and demand model IMPACT 2009, which is linked to the biophysical crop model DSSAT. Climate
change projections are based on the NCAR and the CSIRO models and the A2 SRES emissions scenario leading to a global-mean warming of about 2.0°C above
pre-industrial levels by 2050 (see footnote 48).

Sub-Saharan Africa. Further, potential reductions in yields have to
be seen in view of future population growth in Africa and the fact
that agricultural productivity must actually grow in the region in
order to improve and ensure food security (Berg et al. 2012; Müller 2013). There is still great uncertainty in model projections, mainly
because of different assumptions and simplifications underlying the
diverse methodological approaches but also because of uncertainty
in climate projections, especially projections of precipitation.
Roudier et al. (2011) highlighted important general sources of
uncertainty: the uncertainties about the response of different crops
to changing climatic conditions, the coupling of climate and crop
models, which are regularly based on different temporal and spatial
scales and require downscaling of data, and assumptions about
future adaptation. Furthermore, different cultivars, which are not
specified in most of the studies, may respond differently to changing climatic conditions; this may partly explain the broad range
of projections. The majority of studies included in the review of
Roudier et al. (2011) do not explicitly take adaptation into account.
Despite the broad range of projections, robust overall conclusions on the risks to agricultural production in Sub-Saharan Africa
can be drawn based on several lines of evidence:
• The projections for crop yields in Sub-Saharan Africa agree that
changing climatic conditions, in particular higher temperatures
and heat extremes, pose a severe risk to agriculture in the
region. The risk is greater where rainfall declines.
• High temperature sensitivity thresholds for crops have been
observed. Where such thresholds are exceeded, reductions

in yield may result. With temperature extremes projected to
grow, there is a clear risk of large negative effects.
• Reductions in growing season length are projected in many
regions.
• Large shifts in the area suitable for present crop cultivars are
projected.
The magnitude of the CO2 fertilization effect remains uncertain
and, for many African crops, appears to be weak.
While there is also evidence that, with agricultural development and improvement in management techniques, the potential
to increase yields relative to current agricultural productivity is
substantial, it is also clear that such improvements have been difficult to achieve. Adaptation and general improvements in current
agricultural management techniques are key for short and long-term
improvements in yield productivity. There would be mounting
challenges in the next few decades, however, as some countries in
Sub-Saharan Africa may even see novel crop climatic conditions
develop quickly with few or no analogs for current crop cultivars.

The Impacts of Food Production Declines
on Poverty
Agricultural production shocks have led to food price increases
in the past, and particular types of households have been found
to be more affected than others by food price increases because
of climate stressors and other economic factors. Kumar and
Quisumbing (2011), for example, found that rural female-headed
45

households are particularly vulnerable to food price increases.
Hertel, Burke, and Lobell (2010) show that, by 2030, poverty
implications because of food price rises in response to productivity shocks have the strongest adverse effects on non-agricultural,
self-employed households and urban households, with poverty
increases by up to one third in Malawi, Uganda, and Zambia. On
the contrary, in some exporting regions (for example, Australia,
New Zealand, and Brazil) aggregate trade gains would outweigh
the negative effect of direct crop losses. Overall, Hertel et al. (2010)
expect global trade to shrink, which leads to an overall efficiency
loss and climate change impacts on crop production are projected
to decrease global welfare by $123 billion, which would be the
equivalent of approximately 18 percent of the global crops sector GDP. In contrast to other regions assessed in this study, no
poverty reduction for any stratum of society is projected in most
countries in Sub-Saharan Africa when assuming a low or medium
agricultural productivity scenario.
Similarly, in a scenario approaching 3.5°C above pre-industrial
levels by the end of the century, Ahmed, Diffenbaugh, and Hertel (2009) project that urban wage-labor-dependent populations
across the developing world may be most affected by once-in-30year climate extremes, with an average increase of 30 percent in
poverty compared to the base period. This study finds that the
poverty rate for this group in Malawi, for example, is estimated
to as much as double following a once-in-30-year climate event,
compared to an average increase in poverty of 9.2 percent among

rural agricultural households. The work by Thurlow, Zhu, and
Diao (2012) is consistent with this claim that urban food security
is highly sensitive to climatic factors; it indicates that two-fifths of
additional poverty caused by climate variability is in urban areas.
Of a sample of 16 countries across Latin America, Asia, and
Africa examined in a study by Ahmed et al. (2009), the largest
“poverty responses” to climate shocks were observed in Africa.
Zambia’s national poverty rate, for example, was found to have
increased by 7.5 percent over 1991–92, classified as a severe
drought year, and 2.4 percent over 2006–07, classified as a severe
flood year (Thurlow et al. 2012). (See Box 3.3).

Livestock
Climate change is expected to have impacts on livestock production in Sub-Saharan Africa, which would have implications for the
many households that are involved in some way in the livestock
industry across the Sub-Saharan African region (see Figure 3.17).
These households can rely on livestock for food (such as meat
and milk and other dairy products), animal products (such as
leather), income, or insurance against crop failure (Seo and
Mendelsohn 2007). In Botswana, pastoral agriculture represents
the chief source of livelihood for over 40 percent of the nation’s
residents, with cattle representing an important source of status
and well-being for the vast majority of Kalahari residents (Dougill,
Fraser, and Mark 2010).

Box 3.3: Agricultural Production Declines and GDP
Several historical case studies have identified a connection between rainfall extremes and reduced GDP because of reduced agricultural
yields. Kenya suffered annual damages of 10–16 percent of GDP because of flooding associated with the El Niño in 1997–98 and the La Niña
drought 1998–2000. About 88 percent of flood losses were incurred in the transport sector and 84 percent of drought losses in hydropower
and industrial production (World Bank 2004, cited in Brown 2011). Barrios et al. (2008) provide evidence that both rainfall and temperature
have significantly contributed to poor economic growth in Africa.
Dell, Jones, and Olken (2012) show that historical temperature increases have had substantial negative effects on agricultural value
added in developing countries. The authors find that a 1°C higher temperature in developing countries is associated with 2.66-percent
lower growth in agricultural output. For developed countries, the temperature effect is substantially smaller and not statistically significant
(0.22 percent lower growth in agricultural output for each additional 1°C of temperature). These results support Jones and Olken (2010),
who also found that 1°C higher temperature in developing countries negatively affects agricultural production. Dell and Jones (2012) in turn
estimate that, in poor countries, each degree of warming can reduce economic growth by an average of 1.3 percentage points (Dell and
Jones 2012) and export growth by 2.0–5.6 percentage points (Jones and Olken 2010). Dell and Jones (2012) expect that (at least in one
scenario studied) this temperature effect may be particularly pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa.
While climate change poses a long-term risk to crop production and ecosystem services, Brown, Meeks, Hunu, and Yu (2011) present evidence that high levels of hydroclimatic variability, especially where it leads to drought, tends to have the most significant influence,
with increasing poverty counts strongly associated (99 percent) with severe drought. Based on regression analysis and an index of rainfall
extremes and taking into account GDP growth and agricultural production, Brown et al. (2011) find a significant and negative correlation between drought and GDP growth per capita: a 1-percent increase in the area of a Sub-Saharan African country experiencing moderate drought
correlates with a 2–4 percent decrease in GDP growth. Agricultural value added (meaning the percentage of GDP from agriculture, including
forestry, fishing, and hunting) and poverty headcount at $1/day were also observed to be significantly and negatively affected. This is consistent with evidence at the household scale.

46

S ub -S aharan A frica : F ood P roduction at R isk

Figure 3.17: Observed cattle density in year 2000

A study of pastoral farmers’ responses to climate variability
in the Sahel, Barbier, Yacoumba, Karambiri, Zorome, and Some
(2009) reports that farmers are more interested in the specific
characteristics of a rainy season, not necessarily total rainfall,
reflecting the finding in some of the literature on crops about
the importance of the temporal distribution of rainfall. Increased
unpredictability of rainfall poses a threat to livestock (Sallu et al.
2010). Livestock is vulnerable to drought, particularly where it
depends on local biomass production (Masike and Ulrich 2008),
with a strong correlation between drought and animal death
(Thornton et al. 2009).
Specific factors that are expected to affect livestock include
the following:
• The quantity and quality of feeds: through changes in herbage
because of temperature, water, and CO2 concentration, and species composition of pastures, which in turn can affect production quantity and nutrient availability for animals and quality.
• Heat stress: altering feed intake, mortality, growth, reproduction, maintenance, and production).
• Livestock diseases, both due to change to diseases themselves
and the spread of disease through flooding.

Source: Adapted from Robinson et al. (2007) with updated data, with permission
from Veterinaria Italiana. Further permission required for reuse.

Regional climate change is found to be the largest threat to
the economic viability of the pastoral food system (Dougill et al.
2010). However, pastoral systems have largely been ignored in
the literature on climate impacts, which has a bias toward the
effects of climate change on crop production (Dougill et al. 2010;
Thornton, Van de Steeg, Notenbaert, and Herrero 2009). Less is
known, therefore, about the effects of climate change on livestock
(Seo and Mendelsohn 2007).
Climate change is expected to affect livestock in a many ways,
including through changing means and variability of temperature
and precipitation (Thornton et al. 2009), thereby potentially placing
livelihoods dependent on the sector at risk (Box 3.4). The savannas and grasslands in which pastoral societies are often located
are typically characterized by high variability in temperature and
precipitation (Sallu, Twyman, and Stringer 2010). The pastoral
systems of the drylands of the Sahel depend highly on natural
resources, such as pasture, fodder, forest products, and water,
all of which are directly affected by climate variability (Djoudi,
Brockhaus, and Locatelli 2011). Sallu et al. (2010) note that historical drought events in the drylands of Botswana have reduced the
diversity and productivity of vegetation, thereby limiting available
grazing and fodder resources.

• Water availability: especially considering that water consumption increases with warmer weather.
• Biodiversity: the genetic variety of domestic animals is being
eroded as some breeds die out, while the livestock sector is
a significant driver of habitat and landscape change and can
itself cause biodiversity loss. (Thornton et al. 2009; Thornton
and Gerber 2010).
The factors listed above may interact in complex ways; for
example, relationships between livestock and water resources
or biodiversity can be two-way (Thornton et al. 2009). The
ways in which climate change impacts interact with other drivers of change (such as population increases, land use changes,
urbanization, or increases in demand for livestock) need to be
considered (Thornton et al. 2009). Available rangeland may be

Box 3.4: Livestock Vulnerability to
Droughts and Flooding
The impacts of climatic conditions on livestock can be severe.
As a result of droughts between 1995 and 1997, pastoralists in
southern Ethiopia lost 46 percent of their cattle and 41 percent of
their sheep and goats (FAO 2008). Damage to livestock stocks
by flooding in the 1990s has also been recorded in the Horn of
Africa, with mortality rates as high as 77 percent (Little, Mahmoud, and Coppock 2001).

reduced by human influences, including moves toward increased
biofuel cultivation (Morton 2012), veterinary fencing (Sallu et
al. 2010), increasing competition for land (Sallu et al. 2010),
and land degradation. Thorny bush encroachment, for example,
is brought about by land degradation (Dougill et al. 2010), as
well as rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations ((Higgins and
Scheiter 2012; see also Chapter 3 on “Agricultural Production”).
Finally, the implications of climate change impacts on livestock
for the human populations that depend on pastoral systems are
equally complex. Deleterious effects on livestock health may
directly affect food and economic security and human health
where populations depend on the consumption or sale of animals and their products (Caminade et al. 2011; Anyamba et al.
2010). This issue is touched on briefly in Chapter 3 on “Human
Impacts” in the context of Rift Valley fever.
In some cases, less specialized rural households have been
observed to display higher resilience to environmental shocks. In
the drylands of Botswana, households that previously had specialized in livestock breeding were forced to diversify their income
strategy and take up hunting and crop farming (Sallu et al. 2010);
this may be seen as a form of adaptation. However, climate change
impacts are expected to affect not only livestock production but
also all alternative means of subsistence, such as crop farming
and harvesting wild animals and plant products. Droughts in
Botswana, for example, have resulted in declines in wild animal
populations valued as hunting prey, wild herbs and fruits, wild
medicines, and plant-based materials used for building construction and crafts (Sallu et al. 2010). It would appear, therefore, that
diversification is not necessarily always a solution to dwindling
agricultural production.
Furthermore, in some instances, pastoralists—particularly
nomadic pastoralists—appear to be less vulnerable than crop
farmers, as they may be afforded some flexibility to seek out
water and feed. Mwang’ombe et al. (2011) found that extreme
weather conditions in Kenya appeared to affect the agro-pastoralists more than the pastoralists. Corroborating this, Thornton
et al. (2009) describe livestock as “a much better hedge” against
extreme weather events, such as heat and drought, despite their
complex vulnerability. In fact, in southern Africa, reductions
in growing season length and increased rainfall variability
is causing some farmers to switch from mixed crop-livestock
systems to rangeland-based systems as farmers find growing
crops too risky in these marginal areas. These conversions are
not, however, without their own risks—among them, animal
feed shortages in the dry season (P. K. Thornton et al. 2009).
In Sahelian Burkina Faso, for example, farmers have identified
forage scarcity as a factor preventing expansion of animal production (Barbier et al. 2009). Furthermore, pastoralists who rely
at least in part on commercial feed may be affected by changes
in food prices (Morton 2012).
48

Projected Impacts on Livestock
Butt, McCarl, Angerer, Dyke, and Stuth (2005) present projections of
climate change impacts on forage yields and livestock on a national
scale. They compare 2030 to the 1960–91 period using two global
circulation models and a range of biophysical models. For local
temperature increases of 1–2.5°C, forage yield change in the Sikasso
region in Mali is projected to be –5 to –36 percent, with variation in
magnitude across parts of the region and the models. The livestock
considered are cattle, sheep, and goats; these are affected through
their maintenance requirements and loss of appetite as a result
of thermal stress. Food intake for all livestock decreases. The rate
of cattle weight gain is found to be –13.6 to –15.7 percent, while
the rate of weight gain does not change for sheep and goats. The
CO2 fertilization effect is accounted for in this study.
Decreased rainfall in the Sahelian Ferlo region of northern
Senegal has been found to be associated with decreases in optimal
stocking density, which can lead to lower incomes for affected
farmers, especially if combined with increased rainfall variability.
A 15-percent decrease in rainfall, for example, in combination
with a 20-percent increase in rainfall variability, would lead to
a 30-percent reduction in the optimum stocking density. Livestock
keeping is the main economic activity and essential to local food
security in this region (Hein, Metzger, and Leemans 2009).
In contrast with these findings, Seo and Mendelsohn (2007)
project precipitation decreases to negatively affect livestock
revenues. They analyze the sensitivity of livestock revenue to
higher temperatures and increased precipitation across nine
Sub-Saharan African countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Niger, Senegal,
Zambia, Cameroon, Kenya, Burkina Faso, and South Africa)
and Egypt. This is because although precipitation increases the
productivity of grasslands it also leads to the encroachment of
forests (see Chapter 3 on “Terrestrial Ecosystems”) and aids the
transmission of livestock diseases.
Seo and Mendelsohn (2007) analyze large and small farms
separately as they function in different ways. Small farms use
livestock for animal power, as a meat supply, and, occasionally
for sale; large farms produce livestock for sale. The study finds
that higher temperatures reduce both the size of the stock and
the net value per stock for large farms but not for small farms.
It is suggested that the higher vulnerability of larger farms
may be due to their reliance on breeds, such as beef cattle, that
are less suited to extreme temperatures, which smaller farms
tends to be able to substitute with species, such as goats, that
can tolerate higher temperatures. Interestingly, the discrepancy in the vulnerability of large and small farms observed
with temperature increases is not as marked when it comes
to precipitation impacts; here, both large and small farms are
considered vulnerable.
The apparent inconsistencies in the above findings with respect
to how changes in precipitation is projected to affect livestock yield

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and the relative vulnerability of large and small farms underline
the inadequacy of the current understanding of the impacts that
climate change may have on pastoral systems. The impacts on
forage yields and livestock sensitivity to high temperatures and
associated diseases, however, do highlight the sector´s vulnerability to climate change.

Projected Ecosystem Changes
The impacts on livestock described in the previous section are
closely tied to changes in natural ecosystems, as changes in the
species composition of pastures affect livestock productivity
(Thornton et al. 2009; Seo and Mendelsohn 2007). Processes, such
as woody plant encroachment, threaten the carrying capacity of
grazing land (Ward 2005). Thus, food production may be affected
by climate-driven biome shifts. This is a particular risk to aquatic
systems, as will be discussed below.
Africa’s tourism industry highly depends on the natural environment; it therefore is also exposed to the risks associated with
climate change. It is currently growing at a rate of 5.9 percent
compared to a global average of 3.3 percent (Nyong 2009). Adverse
impacts on tourist attractions, such as coral reefs and other areas of
natural beauty, may weaken the tourism industry in Sub-Saharan
Africa. It is believed that bleaching of coral reefs in the Indian
Ocean and Red Sea has already led to a loss of revenue from the
tourism sector (Unmüßig and Cramer 2008). Likewise, the glacier
on Mount Kilimanjaro, a major attraction in Tanzania, is rapidly
disappearing (Unmüßig and Cramer 2008).

Terrestrial Ecosystems
Sub-Saharan Africa encompasses a wide variety of biomes, including
evergreen forests along the equator bordering on forest transitions
and mosaics south and north further extending into woodlands
and bushland thickets and semi-arid vegetation types. Grasslands
and shrublands are commonly interspersed by patches of forest
(W J Bond, Woodward, and Midgley 2005).
Reviewing the literature on ecosystem and biodiversity impacts
in southern Africa, Midgley and Thuiller (2010) note the high
vulnerability of savanna vegetation to climate change. Changes in
atmospheric CO2 concentration are expected to lead to changes in
species composition in a given area (Higgins and Scheiter 2012).
In fact, during the last decades, the encroachment of woody plants
has already affected savannas (Buitenwerf, Bond, Stevens, and
Trollope 2012; Ward 2005). The latter are often unpalatable to
domestic livestock (Ward 2005).
Grasslands and savannas up to 30° north and south of the
equator are typically dominated by heat tolerant C4 grasses and
mixed tree-C4 grass systems with varying degrees of tree or shrub

cover (Bond et al. 2005), where the absence of trees demarks
grasslands in contrast to savannas. Forest trees, in turn, use
the C3 pathway, which selects for low temperatures and high
CO2 concentrations (Higgins and Scheiter 2012). However, William J. Bond and Parr (2010) classify as savannas those forests
with a C4 grassy understory that burn frequently. At a global
scale, the rainfall range for C4 grassy biomes ranges from approximately 200 mm mean annual precipitation (MAP) to 3000 mm
MAP, with tree patches associated with higher precipitation (Bond
and Parr 2010). According to Lehmann, Archibald, Hoffmann,
and Bond (2011), however, the wettest African savanna experiences 1750 mm MAP.

The Role of Fire
Fires contribute to the stability of these biomes through a positive feedback mechanism, effectively blocking the conversion of
savannas to forests (Beckage, Platt, and Gross 2009). C4 grasses are
heat-tolerant and shade-intolerant, such that a closed tree canopy
would hinder their growth. Efficient growth of C4 plants at high
growing season temperatures allows for accumulation of highly
flammable material, increasing the likelihood of fire that in turn
hinders the encroachment of woody plant cover. Fire-promoting
ground cover is absent in the humid microclimate of closed canopy
woods, further stabilizing these systems (Lehmann et al. 2011).
A further factor promoting the wider spread of savannas in Africa
compared to other continents is the prevalence of mega-herbivores,
as browse disturbance reduces woody plant cover in arid regions
(Lehmann et al. 2011). However, grazing and trampling simultaneously reduce fuel loads and promote tree growth (Wigley, Bond,
and Hoffman 2010).
While short-term responses of and biological activity in
African biomes are typically driven by water availability and
fire regimes, in the longer term African biomes appear highly
sensitive to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations (Midgley and Thuiller 2010). Increases in CO2 concentrations are
expected to favor C3 trees over C4 grasses, as at leaf-level the
fertilization effect overrides the temperature effect; this shifts
the competitive advantage away from heat tolerant C4 plants,
resulting in a risk of abrupt vegetation shifts at the local level
(Higgins and Scheiter 2012). The effect may be further enhanced
by a positive feedback loop. Trees are expected to accumulate
enough biomass under elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations to recover from fires (Kgope, Bond, and Midgley 2009).
This might shade out C4 grass production, contributing to
lower severity of fires and further promoting tree growth.
Fire exclusion experiments show that biome shifts associated
with the processes above can occur on relatively short time
scales. High rainfall savannas can be replaced by forests in
less than 20–30 years (Bond and Parr 2010).
49

The Role of Changing Land Uses
In order to determine to what extent tree cover is affected by
land-use practices (as opposed to global processes, such as climate change), Wigley et al. (2010) compared woody increases in
three neighboring areas in the Hlabisa district, KwaZulu-Natal,
South Africa, in 1937, 1960, and 2004. Overall, they observe the
prevalence of a global driver over local factors. Different management of the otherwise comparable study sites did not yield
predicted outcomes, where conservation and communal sites
was expected to result in a decrease of tree cover (because of
the prevalence of browsers, frequent fires, and wood harvesting
in the latter). Instead, total tree cover increased from 14 percent
in 1937 to 58 percent in 2004 in the conservation area, and
from 6 percent to 25 percent in the communal farming area. The
third area, used for commercial ranching that is associated with
high cattle and low browser density and suppressed fires, experienced an increase from 3 percent to 50 percent. These results
lead Wigley et al. (2010) to conclude that either increased CO2 or
atmospheric nitrogen deposition drove the observed changes
during the study period. Kgope et al. (2009) further corroborated
this result by conducting an open-top chamber experiment with
two African acacia species and a common C4 savanna grass under
different CO2 levels (150, 240, 387, 517, 709, and 995 ppm). Fire
effects on seedling establishment were simulated by clipping the
plants after the first growing season. Results show that because of
increased root reserves under elevated CO2 concentrations, trees
should be more resistant to fire than at pre-industrial levels, such
that fires are less likely to kill seedlings and effectively control
tree growth. In this experiment, CO2 sensitivity was observed to
be highest at sub-ambient and ambient CO2 levels and decreasing
with above-present levels.

Projected Vegetation Shifts
To assess future potential vegetation shifts in grassland, savanna,
and forest formation based on the changing competitive advantages
of C3 and C4 vegetation types, Higgins and Scheiter (2012) applied
a dynamic vegetation model under the SRES A1B scenario (3.5°C
above pre-industrial levels). Their results yielded marked shifts in
biomes in 2100 (compared to 1850) in which parts of deserts replace
grasslands, grasslands are replaced by savannas and woodlands,
and savannas are replaced by forests. The most pronounced change
appears in savannas, which in this study are projected to decrease
from 23 percent to 14 percent of total land coverage. The overall
area dominated by C3 vegetation (woodlands, deciduous forests,
and evergreen forests) increases from 31 percent to 47 percent in
this projection (see Figure 3.18).
The rate of temperature change appears to influence the timing
of the transition, as rapid temperature shifts allow for competitive
50

Figure 3.18: Projections of transitions from C4-dominated
vegetation cover to C3-dominated vegetation for SRES A1B,
in which GMT increases by 2.8°C above 1980–99

advantage of C4 plants. Furthermore, with rising CO2 concentration,
C4 vegetation is more likely to occur in regions with low rainfall
(less than 250 mm). It is essential to note that rainfall was kept
constant in this projection.

Risks to Forests
Although the above projections indicate that climate-changeinduced vegetation shifts would often favor forests, forests are
also at risk from changes in temperature and precipitation. Bond
and Parr (2010) note that if extreme weather conditions increase
because of climate change, forests may shrink at the expense of
grasses (Box 3.5).
In their literature review, C. A. Allen et al. (2010) note the
increasing number of instances where climate-related tree
mortality has been observed, spanning a wide array of forest
ecosystems (including savannas). Despite insufficient coverage
and comparability between studies precluding the detection of
global trends in forest dieback attributable to climate change,
observations are consistent with the present understanding of
responses to climatic factors (particularly drought) influencing
tree mortality. These climatic factors include carbon starvation
because of water stress leading to metabolic limitations, often
coinciding with increases in parasitic insects and fungi resulting from warmer temperatures. Furthermore, warmer winters

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Box 3.5: Tree Mortality in the Sahel
At a regional scale, Gonzalez, Tucker, and Sy (2012) observe
a 20-percent decline in tree density in the western Sahel and a
significant decline in species richness across the Sahel in the
last half of the 20th century. Based on an econometric model and
field observations, they attribute the observed trend to changes
in temperature and rainfall variability, which in turn are attributable
to climate change. Furthermore, available data on tree density at
Njóobéen Mbataar (Senegal) and precipitation data suggests a
threshold of resilience to drought stress for Sudan and Guinean
tree species at approximately one standard deviation below the
long-term average five out of six years (Gonzalez et al. 2012).

can lead to elevated respiration at the expense of stored carbon,
again posing the risk of carbon starvation (McDowell et al. 2008).
These mechanisms and their interdependencies are likely to be
amplified because of climate change (McDowell et al. 2011).
Despite persistent uncertainties pertaining to these mechanisms
and thresholds marking tree mortality, C. A. Allen et al. (2010)
conclude that increases in extreme droughts and temperatures
pose risks of broad-scale climate-induced tree mortality. According to Allen et al. (2010), the potential for abrupt responses at
the local level, once climate exceeds physiological thresholds,
qualifies this as a tipping point of non-linear behavior (Lenton
et al. 2008).
In light of the opposing trends described above, William J.
Bond & Parr (2010) conclude that “it is hard to predict what the
future holds for forests vs. grassy biomes given these contrasting
threats.” Thus, whether drought-related tree feedback may prevail
over CO2- stimulated woody encroachment, remains unclear.

Freshwater Ecosystems
Reviewing the literature on changes in productivity in African
lakes, Mzime R. Ndebele-Murisa et al. (2010) note that while
these lakes are under stress from human usage, much of the

changes observed are attributable to years of drought. Associated reductions in river inflow can contribute to a decrease in
nutrient concentrations. Increasing water temperatures and
higher evaporation further lead to stronger thermal stratification, further inhibiting primary productivity as waters do not
mix and nutrients in the surface layers are depleted. Similarly,
Mzime R. Ndebele-Murisa, Mashonjowa, and Hill (2011) state
that temperature is an important driver of fish productivity in
Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, and best explains observed declines in
Kapenta fishery yields.
Inland freshwater wetlands are another freshwater ecosystem
likely to be affected by climate change. One such wetland is the
Sudd in Sahelian South Sudan, which provides a rich fishery,
flood recession agriculture, grazing for livestock, handcrafts, and
building materials, and plant and animal products (including for
medicinal purposes). The Sudd, which is fed by the White Nile
originating in the Great Lakes region in East Africa, could be
depleted by reduced flows resulting from changes in precipitation
patterns (Mitchell 2013).
Furthermore, increasing freshwater demand in urban areas
of large river basins may lead to reducing river flows, which may
become insufficient to maintain ecological production; this means
that freshwater fish populations may be impacted (McDonald et
al. 2011).

Ocean Ecosystems
Climate-change related changes in ocean conditions can have
significant effects on ocean ecosystems. Factors influencing ocean
conditions include increases in water temperature, precipitation,
levels of salinity, wind velocity, wave action, sea-level rise, and
extreme weather events. Ocean acidification, which is associated with rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations, is another
factor and is discussed in Chapter 4 under “Projected Impacts
on Coral Reefs” in the context of coral reef degradation. Ocean
ecosystems are expected to respond to altered ocean conditions
with changes in primary productivity, species distribution, and
food web structure (Cheung et al. 2010). Theory and empirical studies suggest a typical shift of ocean ecosystems toward
higher latitudes and deeper waters in response to such changes
(Cheung et al. 2010a). However, there is also an associated risk
that some species and even whole ecosystems will be placed
at risk of extinction (Drinkwater et al. 2010).
Taking into account changes in sea-surface temperatures, primary production, salinity, and coastal upwelling zones, Cheung et
al. (2010) project changes in fish species distribution and regional
patterns of maximum catch potential by 2055 in a scenario leading
to warming of approximately 2°C in 2050 (and 4°C by 2100). The
results are compared to a scenario in which conditions stabilize at
year 2000 values. Comparing both scenarios shows potential yield
51

increases of 16 percent along the eastern and southeastern coast
of Sub-Saharan Africa (Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and
Kenya). However, for the same regions with closer proximity to the
coast, yield changes of –16 to –5 percent are projected. Increases of
more than 100 percent at the coast of Somalia and South Africa are
projected. Apart from the southern coast of Angola, for the western
African coast—where fish contributes as much as 50 percent of animal
protein consumed (Lam, Cheung, Swartz, and Sumaila 2012)—significant adverse changes in maximum catch potential are projected
of – 16 to –5 percent for Namibia, –31 to 15 percent for Cameroon
and Gabon, and up to 50 percent for the coast of Liberia and Sierra
Leone (Cheung et al. 2010). Lam et al. (2012), applying the same
method and scenario, report decreases ranging from 52–60 percent,
Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Togo, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.
The analysis by Cheung et al. (2010) does not account for changes
in ocean acidity or oxygen availability. Oxygen availability has been
found to decline in the 200–700m zone and is related to reduced
water mixing due to enhanced stratification (Stramma, Schmidtko,
Levin, and Johnson 2010). At the same time, warming waters lead
to elevated oxygen demand across marine taxa (Stramma, Johnson,
Sprintall, and Mohrholz 2008). Hypoxia is known to negatively
impact the performance of marine organisms, leading to additional
potential impacts on fish species (Pörtner 2010). Accordingly, a later
analysis by Cheung, Dunne, Sarmiento, and Pauly (2011), which
built on that of William Cheung et al (2010), found that acidification
and a reduction of oxygen content in the northeast Atlantic ocean
lowered the estimated catch potentials by 20–30 percent relative
to simulations not considering these factors.
Changes in catch potential can lead to decreases in local
protein consumption in regions where fish is a major source of
animal protein. For example, in their study of projected changes
to fishery yields in West Africa by 2055 in a 2°C world, V. W. Y.
Lam, Cheung, Swartz, and Sumaila (2012) compare projected
changes in catch potential with projected protein demand (based
on population growth, excluding dietary shifts). They show
that in 2055 Ghana and Sierra Leone are expected to experience
decreases of 7.6 percent and 7.0 percent respectively from the
amount of protein consumed in 2000. Furthermore, they project
economic losses of 21 percent of annual total landed value (from
$732 million currently to $577 million, using constant 2000 dollars).
Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo, with up to 40 percent declines,
are projected to suffer the greatest impacts on their land values.
The job loss associated with projected declines in catches is estimated at almost 50 percent compared to the year 2000 (Lam et
al. 2012). Of the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa, Malawi, Guinea,
Senegal, and Uganda rank among the most vulnerable countries
to climate-change-driven impacts on fisheries. This vulnerability
is based on the combination of predicted warming, the relative
importance of fisheries to national economies and diets, and
limited adaptive capacity (Allison et al. 2009).
52

The vulnerability to impacts on marine ecosystems, however, differs from community to community. Cinner et al.
(2012) measure the vulnerability to observed climate impacts on
reef ecosystems in 42 communities across five western Indian
Ocean countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Mauritius, and
the Seychelles). The study provides evidence that not all sites
are equally exposed to factors that cause bleaching. Reefs in
Tanzania, Kenya, the Seychelles, and northwest Madagascar are
found to experience more severe bleaching, while southwest
Madagascar and Mauritius are less exposed because of lower
seawater temperatures and UV radiation and higher wind velocity and currents. These findings caution against generalizations
about the exposure of both ecosystems and the people dependent
on them. The sensitivity of human communities to the repercussions of bleaching events is highest in those communities
in Tanzania and parts of Kenya and Madagascar that are most
dependent on fishing livelihoods.

Human Impacts
Climate change impacts as outlined above are expected to have
further repercussions for affected populations. Other impacts may
also occur and interact with these to result in severe threats to
human life. The human impacts of climate change will be determined by the socio-economic context in which they occur. The
following sections discuss some of the identified risk factors to
affected populations and the potential repercussions for society.

Human Health
The increased prevalence of undernutrition is one of the most
severe climate-related threats to human health in Sub-Saharan
Africa. Insufficient access to nutrition already directly impacts
human health, with high levels of undernutrition across the
region. Undernutrition is the result of inadequate food intake or
inadequate absorption or use of nutrients. The latter can result from
diarrheal disease (Cohen, Tirado, Aberman, and Thompson 2008).
Undernutrition increases the risk of secondary or indirect health
implications because it heightens susceptibility to other diseases
(World Health Organization 2009; World Bank Group 2009). It can
also cause child stunting, which is associated with higher rates of
illness and death and which can have long-term repercussions into
adulthood, including reduced cognitive development (Cohen et
al. 2008). In fact, undernutrition has been cited as the single most
significant factor contributing to the global burden of disease; it is
already taking a heavy toll, especially among children (IASC 2009).
In Sub-Saharan Africa in 2011, the prevalence of undernourishment in the population ranges from 15–65 percent depending
on the sub-region (Lloyd, Kovats, & Chalabi, 2011). Lloyd et al.

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(2011) anticipates modest reductions in these rates in the absence
of climate change; with warming of 1.2–1.9°C by 2050,50 the proportion of the population that is undernourished is projected to
increase by 25–90 percent compared to the present. The proportion
of moderately stunted children, which ranges between 16–22 percent in the 2010 baseline, is projected to remain close to present
levels in a scenario without climate change. With climate change,
the rate is projected to increase approximately 9 percent above
present levels. The proportion of severely stunted children, which
ranges between 12–20 percent in the 2010 baseline, is expected
to decrease absent climate change by approximately 40 percent
across all regions. With climate change, this overall reduction
from present levels would be only approximately 10 percent. The
implications of these findings are serious, as stunting has been
estimated to increase the chance of all-cause death by a factor
of 1.6 for moderate stunting and 4.1 for severe stunting (Black
et al. 2008).
Other threats to health that are likely to be increased by climate
change include fatalities and injuries due to extreme events or
disasters such as flooding (McMichael and Lindgren 2011; World
Health Organization 2009). An indirect health effect of flooding
is the damage to key infrastructure. This was observed in a case
in Kenya in 2009 when approximately 100,000 residents of the
Tana Delta were cut off from medical services by floods that swept
away a bridge linking the area with Ngao District Hospital (Daily
Nation September 30, 2009, cited in Kumssa and Jones 2010).
Another risk is heat stress resulting from higher temperatures.
Lengthy exposure to high temperatures can cause heat-related
illnesses, including heat cramps, fainting, heat exhaustion, heat
stroke, and death. More frequent and intense periods of extreme
heat have been linked to higher rates of illness and death in affected
populations. The young, the elderly, and those with existing health
problems are especially vulnerable. Heat extremes are expected
to also particularly affect farmers and others engaged in outdoor
labor without adequate protective measures (Myers 2012). The
populations of inland African cities are expected to be particularly
exposed to extreme heat events, as the built-up environment
amplifies local temperatures (known as the “urban heat island
effect”; UN Habitat 2011). However, as the heat extremes projected
for Sub-Saharan Africa are unprecedented, the extent to which
populations will be affected by or will be able to adapt to such
heat extremes remains unknown. This remains an understudied
area of climate-change-related impacts.

Vector and Water-borne Diseases
Further risks to human health in Sub-Saharan Africa include the
following: vector-borne diseases including malaria, dengue fever,
leishmaniasis, Rift Valley fever, and schistosomiasis, and water
and food-borne diseases, including cholera, dysentery and typhoid

fever, and diarrheal diseases; all of these diseases can be influenced
by local climate (Costello et al. 2009). The diseases most sensitive
to environmental changes are those that are vector-borne or food
and water-borne. Flooding can be associated with outbreaks of
diseases, such as cholera; while drought has been linked to such
diseases as diarrhea, scabies, conjunctivitis, and trachoma (Patz
et al. 2008). As cold-blooded arthropods (including mosquitoes,
flies, ticks, and fleas) carry most vector-borne diseases, a marginal
change in temperature can dramatically alter their populations.
They are also highly sensitive to water and vegetation changes
in their environment. Changes in these factors can, therefore,
increase the incidence, seasonal transmission, and geographic
range of many vector-borne diseases (Patz et al. 2008).
The incidence of malaria is notoriously difficult to predict, There
is great uncertainty about the role of environmental factors vis-à-vis
endogenous, density-dependent factors in determining mosquito
prevalence; many studies indicate, however, a correlation between
increased malaria incidence and increased temperature and rainfall
(Chaves and Koenraadt, 2010). In Botswana, for example, indices of
ENSO-related climate variability have predicted malaria incidence
(Thomson 2006); in Niger, total mosquito abundances showed
strong seasonal patterns, peaking in August in connection with the
Sahel water cycle (Caminade et al. 2011). This is consistent with
observations that the drought in the Sahel in the 1970s resulted
in a decrease in malaria transmission (Ermert, Fink, Morse, and
Peeth 2012). Land-use patterns can also play a role in determining vector populations, with deforestation affecting temperature,
and agricultural landscapes potentially providing suitable microhabitats for mosquito populations (Chaves and Koenraadt 2010).
The areas where malaria is present is projected to change,
with malaria pathogens potentially no longer surviving in some
areas while spreading elsewhere into previously malaria-free areas.
Even today malaria is spreading into the previously malaria-free
highlands of Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi, with the
frequency of epidemics there increasing, and may also enter
the highlands of Somalia and Angola by the end of the century
(Unmüßig and Cramer 2008). In the Sahel, the northern fringe of
the malaria epidemic belt is projected to have shifted southwards
(by 1–2 degrees) with a warming of 1.7°C by 2031–50 because of
a projected decrease in the number of rainy days in the summer
(Caminade et al. 2011); this means that it is possible that fewer
people in the northern Sahel will be exposed to malaria.
Outbreaks of Rift Valley fever (RVF), which are episodic,
occur through mosquitos as the vector and infected domestic
animals as secondary hosts and are linked to climate variability
(including ENSO) (Anyamba et al. 2009). Intra-seasonal rainfall

50 The study use the NCAR and CSIRO scenarios, which project a temperature

variability, in particular, is a key risk factor, as outbreaks tend to
occur after a long dry spell followed by an intense rainfall event
(Caminade et al. 2011). In light of projections of increased rainfall
variability in the Sahel, RVF incidence in this area can be expected
to increase. Caminade et al. (2011) identify northern Senegal and
southern Mauritania as risk hotspots, given these areas’ relatively
high livestock densities.
Rift Valley fever can spread through the consumption or
slaughter of infected animals (cases of the disease in Burundi in
May 2007 were believed to originate from meat from Tanzania;
Caminade et al. 2011). Because of this, RVF outbreaks can also
have implications for economic and food security as livestock
contract the disease and become unsuitable for sale or consumption. An outbreak in 1997–98 for example, affected five countries
in the Horn of Africa, causing loss of human life and livestock
and affecting the economies through bans on exports of livestock
(Anyamba et al. 2009).
Africa has the largest number of reported cholera cases in the
world. Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness caused by ingestion
of toxigenic Vibrio Cholerae and is transmitted via contaminated
water or food. The temporal pattern of the disease has been linked
to climate. The relative significance of temperature and precipitation factors remains somewhat uncertain in projections of future
incidence under climate change. Past outbreaks of cholera have
been associated with record rainfall events (Tschakert 2007), often
during ENSO events (Nyong 2009). The risk increases when water
supplies and sanitation services are disrupted (Douglas et al.
2008). This occurred during the severe flooding in Mozambique
in 2000, and again in the province of Cabo Delgado in early 2013
(Star Africa 2013; UNICEF 2013), when people lost their livelihoods and access to medical services, sanitation facilities, and
safe drinking water (Stal 2009).

Repercussions of Health Effects
The repercussions of the health effects of climate change on society
are complex. Poor health arising from environmental conditions,
for instance, may lower productivity, leading to impacts on the
broader national economy as well as on household incomes. Heat
extremes and increased mean temperatures can reduce labor productivity, thereby undermining adaptive capacity and making it
more difficult for economic and social development goals to be
achieved (Kjellstrom, Kovats, Lloyd, Holt, and Tol 2009). Child
undernutrition also has long-term consequences for the health
and earning potential of adults (Victora et al. 2008).
The educational performance of children is also likely to be
undermined by poor health associated with climatic risk factors.
An evaluation of school children’s health during school days in
Yaounde and Douala in Cameroon found that, in the hot season,
high proportions of children were affected by headaches, fatigue,
54

or feelings of being very hot. Without any protective or adaptive
measures, these conditions made students absentminded and
slowed writing speeds, suggesting that learning performance could
be undermined by increased temperatures (Dapi et al. 2010).
Child stunting is associated with reduced cognitive ability and
school performance (Cohen et al. 2008); in addition, diseases
such as malaria have a significant effect on children’s school
attendance and performance. Sachs and Malaney (2002) found
that, because of malaria, primary students in Kenya annually
miss 11 percent of school days while secondary school students
miss 4.3 percent.
The complexity of the range of environmental and humancontrolled factors that affect human health is considerable.
Among them, land-use changes (including deforestation, agricultural development, water projects, and urbanization) may
affect disease transmission patterns (Patz et al. 2008). Moreover,
population movements can both be driven by and produce health
impacts. Forced displacement, often in response to severe famine
or conflict, is associated with high rates of infectious disease
transmission and malnutrition; this can lead to the exposure of
some populations to new diseases not previously encountered
and against which they lack immunity (McMichael et al. 2012).
People who migrate to poor urban areas, are possibly also at
risk of disaster-related fatalities and injuries (McMichael et al.
2012), especially in slum areas which are prone to flooding and
landslides (Douglas et al. 2008).

Population Movement
Projections of future migration patterns associated with climate
change are largely lacking. However, the observed movements
outlined below illustrate the nature of potential patterns and the
complexity of the factors that influence population movement.
Migration can be seen as a form of adaptation and an appropriate
response to a variety of local environmental pressures (Tacoli 2009;
Warner 2010; Collier et al. 2008). Migration often brings with it a
whole set of other risks, however, not only for the migrants but
also for the population already residing at their point of relocation.
For example, the spread of malaria into the Sub-Saharan African
highlands is associated with the migration of people from the
lowlands to the highlands (Chaves and Koenraadt 2010). Some
of the health risks to migrants themselves have been outlined
above. Other impediments faced by migrants can include tensions across ethnic identities, political and legal restrictions, and
competition for and limitations on access to land (Tacoli 2009);
these, can also, potentially, lead to conflict (O. Brown, Hammill,
and McLeman 2007). In turn, migration is a common response to
circumstances of violent conflict (McMichael et al. 2012).
Migration can be driven by a multitude of factors, where notably the socioeconomic context also plays a key role (Tacoli 2009).

S ub -S aharan A frica : F ood P roduction at R isk

Environmental changes and impacts on basic resources, including such extreme weather events as flooding and cyclones, are
significant drivers of migration. Drought can also be a driver of
migration, according to S. Barrios, Bertinelli, and Strobl (2006), who
attribute one rural exodus to rainfall shortages. When the Okovango
River burst its banks in 2009 in a way that had not happened in
more than 45 years, about 4,000 people were displaced on both
the Botswanan and Namibian sides of the river and forced into
emergency camps (IRIN 2009). Although this event has not been
attributed to climate change, it does illustrate the repercussions
that extreme events can have on communities.
Some permanent or temporary population movements are
associated with other environmental factors, such as desertification
and vegetation cover, which may be affected by human-induced
land degradation or climate change (Tacoli 2009). Van der Geest,
Vrieling, and Dietz (2010) find that, in Ghana, migration flows can
be explained partly by vegetation dynamics, with areas that offer
greater vegetation cover and rainfall generally attracting more inmigration than out-migration. This study found that the migration
patterns observed also appeared to be related to rural population
densities, suggesting that the per capita access to natural resources
in each area was at least as important as the abundance of natural
resources per se. Barbier et al. (2009) show that, in Burkina Faso,
some pastoralists have opted to migrate from the more densely
populated and more arid north to the south, where population
density is lower, pastures are available, and the tsetse fly is under
control. Other migrations from dryland areas in Burkina Faso are
seasonal; that is, they occur for the duration of the dry season
(Kniveton, Smith, and Black 2012). Migration as a response to
environmental stresses, however, can be limited by non-climatic
factors. In the Kalahari in Botswana, for example, pastoralists have
employed seasonal migration as a means of coping with irregular
forage, land tenure reform limits previously high herd mobility
(Dougill et al. 2010).

Urbanization
The connection between the challenges posed by climate change
and by urbanization is particularly noteworthy. Africa has the highest rate of urbanization in the world; this is expected to increase
further, with as much as half the population expected to live in
urban areas by 2030 (UN-HABITAT 2010a). In the face of mounting
pressures on rural livelihoods under climate change, even more
people may people may migrate to urban areas (Adamo 2010). For
example, patterns of urbanization in Senegal have been attributed
to desertification and drought, which have made nomadic pastoral
livelihoods less feasible and less profitable (Hein et al. 2009).
Urbanization may constitute a form of adaptation and provide
opportunities to build resilient communities, and the potential
benefits may extend beyond the urban area. There are, are for

example, cases in which urban migrants are able to send remittances to family members remaining in rural areas (Tacoli 2009).
Large numbers of urban dwellers, however, currently live in
precarious situations. For example, the residents of densely populated urban areas that lack adequate sanitation and water drainage
infrastructure depend on water supplies that can easily become
contaminated (Douglas et al. 2008). As discussed above, heat
extremes are also likely to be felt more in cities. Levels of poverty and
unemployment are often high in these areas, with many unskilled
subsistence farmers who move to urban areas experiencing difficulty
in finding employment (Tacoli 2009). As discussed in Chapter 3 on
“The Impacts of Food Production Declines on Poverty”, the urban
poor are also among the most vulnerable to food production shocks.
The vulnerability of new urban dwellers is also increased by
the pressure that urbanization puts on the natural environment
and urban services (Kumssa and Jones 2010). Absent careful urban
planning, such pressure can exacerbate existing stressors (for
example, by polluting an already limited water supply; Smit and
Parnell 2012), and heighten the vulnerability of these populations
to the impacts of disasters, including storm surges and flash floods
(McMichael et al. 2012). Many settlements are constructed on
steep, unstable hillsides, along the foreshores of former mangrove
swamps or tidal flats, or in low-lying flood plains (Douglas et al.
2008). Flooding severity is heightened as, for example, natural
channels of water are obstructed, vegetation removed, ground
compacted, and drains blocked because of uncontrolled dumping
of waste (Douglas et al. 2008). Urbanization can hence be seen as
both a response to and a source of vulnerability to climate change
(see also Chapter 4 on “Risks to Coastal Cities”).

Conflict
There are several scenarios under which climate change could
trigger conflict (Homer-Dixon,1994; Scheffran, Brzoska, Kominek,
Link, and Schilling 2012). Decreased or unequal access to resources
following extreme events has been identified as a possible contributing factor to human conflict (Hendrix and Glaser 2007; Nel
and Righarts 2008). Similarly, on both long and short time-scales,
depletion of a dwindling supply of resources could lead to competition between different groups and increase the threat of conflict
(Homer-Dixon 1994; Hendrix and Glaser 2007).
For example, Blackwell (2010) links cattle raiding and violent
disputes over scarce water resources to escalating competition for
shrinking pasture and water sources. Rowhani, Degomme, GuhaSapir, and Lambin (2011), who investigated the same phenomena
in East Africa, found no strict causal mechanisms, but they did
find associations between variables, with both malnutrition and
inter-annual ecosystem variability correlated with violent conflict.
They argue that the impact of environmental change on human
security is indirect and mediated by several political and economic
55

factors. This more nuanced picture is consistent with the analysis
of J. Barnett and Adger (2007), who argue that, in some circumstances, climate change impacts on human security may increase
the risk of violent conflict.
There is some evidence that the causal connection operates in
the opposite direction, with conflict often leading to environmental
degradation and increasing the vulnerability of populations to a
range of climate-generated stressors (Biggs and et al. 2004). The
breakdown of governance due to civil war can also exacerbate
poverty and cause ecosystem conservation arrangements to collapse;
both of these factors can potentially cause further exploitation of
natural resources (Mitchell 2013).
The potential connection between environmental factors and
conflict is a highly contested one, and the literature contains evidence both supporting and denying such a connection. Gleditsch
(2012), summarizing a suite of recent studies on the relationship
between violent conflict and climate change, stresses that there is to
date a lack of evidence for such a connection (see Buhaug 2010 for
a similar line of argument). However, given that unprecedented
climatic conditions are expected to place severe stresses on the
availability and distribution of resources, the potential for climaterelated human conflict emerges as a risk—and one of uncertain
scope and sensitivity to degree of warming.

Conclusion
Key impacts that are expected to affect Sub-Saharan Africa are
summarized in Table 3.4, which shows how the nature and magnitude of impacts vary across different levels of warming.
Agriculture livelihoods are under threat and the viable options
to respond to this threat may dwindle. For maize crop areas, for
example, the overlap between historical maize growing areas and
regions where maize can be grown under climate change decreases
from 58 percent under 1.5°C warming above pre-industrial levels
to 3 percent under 3°C warming. In other words, even at 1.5°C
warming about 40 percent of the present maize cropping areas
will no longer be suitable for current cultivars. Risks and impacts
grow rapidly with increasing temperature. Recent assessments
project significant yield losses for crops in the order of 5–8 percent
by the 2050s for a warming of about 2°C, and a one-in-twenty
chance that yield losses could exceed 27 percent. As warming
approaches 3°C, large areas of Sub-Saharan Africa are projected to
experience locally unprecedented growing season temperatures. In
a 2°C world, countries with historically high temperatures begin
to move toward globally unprecedented crop climates. This means
that it becomes increasingly unlikely that existent cultivars can
be obtained that are suitable for the temperature ranges in these
regions. Should this become impossible, the breeding of new more
drought-resistant cultivars tolerant of higher temperatures would
56

appear to be necessary. In a 4°C world, the likelihood that suitable
existent cultivars are available further decreases, and the uncertainty
surrounding the potential of novel cultivar breeding may increase.
Similarly, diversification options for agro-pastoral systems
may decline as heat stress and indirect impacts reduce livestock
productivity and CO2-driven woody plant encroachment onto
grasslands diminishes the carrying capacity of the land. Livelihoods dependent on fisheries and other ecosystem services would
be similarly placed under threat should critical species cease to
be locally available.
Impacts in these sectors are likely to ripple through other sectors and affect populations in Sub-Saharan Africa in complex ways.
Undernutrition increases the risk of other health impacts, which
are themselves projected to become more prevalent under future
climate change. This may undermine household productivity and
can cause parents to respond by taking their children out of school
to assist in such activities as farm work, foraging, and the fetching
of fuel and water. This may ultimately have long-term implications
for human capital and poverty eradication in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Threats to agricultural production, which place at risk the
livelihoods of 60 percent of the labor force of Sub-Saharan Africa,
may further exacerbate an existing urbanization trend. Migration to
urban areas may provide migrants with new livelihood opportunities but also expose them to climate impacts in new ways. Some
health risk factors, such as heat extremes, are particularly felt in
urban areas. Other impacts tend to affect the poorest strata of urban
society, to which urban migrants often belong. Conditions that
characterize poor urban areas, including overcrowding, inadequate
access to water, and poor drainage and sanitation facilities, aid the
transmission of vector- and water-borne diseases. As many cities
are located in coastal areas, they are exposed to coastal flooding
because of sea-level rise. The poorest urban dwellers tend to be
located in the most vulnerable areas, further placing them at risk
of extreme weather events. Impacts occurring even far removed
from urban areas can be felt in these communities. Food price
increases following production shocks have the most deleterious
repercussions within cities. The high exposure of poor people to
the adverse effects of climate change implies the potential for
increasing inequalities within and across societies. It is as yet
unclear how such an effect could be amplified at higher levels of
warming and what this would mean for social stability.
Thus, the range of climate-change-related risks already confronting Sub-Saharan Africa at relatively low levels of warming
could have far-reaching repercussions for the region´s societies
and economies well into the future. Even in a situation in which
warming is limited to below 2°C, there are substantial risks and
damages; as warming increases these only grow. With a 2°C
warming, and despite persistent uncertainties, large regional risks
to development emerge, particularly if adaptation measures fail
to adequately anticipate the threat.

Substantially wetter (≈30 percent); however, there is
significant uncertainty6

Weak (<10 percent) change
in annual precipitation, sign
uncertain

Decrease of annual precipitation up to 30 percent

Drought

Increasing drought trends
observed since 1950.7 The
recent 2011 drought in East Africa
affected 13 million people and led
to extremely high rates of malnutrition.8 Lott et al (2013) show that
human influence on climate has
increased the probability of East
African long rains as dry, or drier
than in 2011

Increasing drought risk
in southern, central
and West Africa, decrease in East Africa,
but West and East
African projections are
uncertain

Likely risk of severe drought
in southern and central Africa,
increased risk in West Africa,
decrease in East Africa but
West and East African projections are uncertain

Aridity

Increased drying

Little change expected

Area of hyper-arid and arid
regions grows by 3 percent.
Total arid area increases
by 1 percent in a 2°C world

Likely risk of extreme
drought in southern Africa and severe drought
in central, Africa,
increased risk in West
Africa, decrease in East
Africa9, but West and
East African projections
are uncertain10

Likely risk of extreme drought
in southern Africa and severe
drought in central Africa,
increased risk in West Africa,
decrease in East Africa 11, but
West and East African projections are uncertain12

Area of hyper-arid and arid
regions grows by 10 percent.
Total arid area increases
by 5 percent
30cm–2040s, 50cm–
2060, 85 cm (70–100)
cm by 2080–2100.
Likely exceeds 50 cm
by 2070s and 100 cm by
early 22nd century

A 20-percent decline in tree
density in the western Sahel and
significant decline in species richness across the Sahel in the last
half of the 20th century.16

41–51 percent loss in
plant endemic species
richness in South Africa
and Namibia20

10 to 15 percent Sub-Saharan
species at risk of extinction
(assuming no migration of
species)21

Savannas are projected
to decrease from 23 percent to 14 percent of
total land coverage.

Mali is experiencing a climate
zone shift with a shift of agroecological zones to the south,
evidenced by a decrease in average rainfall of about 200 mm over
the past 50 years and an average
increase in temperature of 0.5°C.17
Reduction in river inflow because
of droughts contributes to decrease nutrient concentrations and
increasing water temperatures and
higher evaporation lead to stronger
thermal stratification further inhibiting primary productivity.18
Most hoofed mammal species in
Kruger National Park showed severe population declines between
the late 1970s and mid 1990s
correlated with extreme reduction
in dry season rainfall19
Water
Availability

Runoff

Around 4°C and Above
(≈2080s)

Area dominated by
woodland, deciduous
forest, and evergreen
forest vegetation
increases from 31 percent to 47 percent
by 2100 compared
to 185022
Projections,
of 5,197 studied African
plant species 25 percent
to 42 percent could
lose all suitable range
by 2085;23
25 to 40 percent SubSaharan species at risk
of extinction (assuming
no migration of species)24

30–50 percent
decreases in annual
runoff25 for parts of West
Africa (Ghana, the Côte
d’Ivoire and southern
Nigeria)26 and Southern
Africa (Namibia, east Angola and western South
Africa and Zambia)27

Increase 10–20 percent in blue
water availability in East Africa
and parts of West Africa,28
10 percent decrease in Ghana,
Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Senegal,
20 to 40 percent decrease in
most of Southern Africa; 20 percent decrease in green water
availability in most of Africa,
except parts of East Africa
(10 to 20 percent increase for
Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya)29
(continued on next page)

50–70 percent decrease in
recharge rates in western
Southern Africa and southern
West Africa

Groundwater
Recharge

30 percent increase in
recharge rate in some parts of
eastern Southern Africa and
East Africa30
Maize, millet, and sorghum crop areas are
projected to overlap on
average 58 percent,
54 percent, and 57 percent by 2025,
respectively, compared
to 1960–2002 conditions.31

Crop Yields,
Crop Growing
Areas and Food Areas
Production

Crop
Production

Yields

Maize

Close to zero or small
negative changes36

About 37 percent of 2000 crop
production.41 Historical data show
non-linear heat effects on maize
with large potential losses under
climate warming42

20 percent decrease in growing
season length in SSA35

Without climate change,
a projected decrease
of 192 million tonnes (111 kg/
capita) and with climate
change 176 million tonnes
(101 kg/capita)39

Baseline of approximately 81 million tonnes in 2000, about 121 kg/
capita.39

All Crops

Increase in failure rate of primary season in mixed rainfed
arid-semiarid systems by
about 60–70 percent to about
one in three years, up from
about one in five at present 39

In southern Africa, the rate of
season failure could increase to
one year in two.

Median losses in the order of
–5 percent37 to –8 percent;47
95 percent probability crop
damages exceed 7 percent,
and 5 percent probability that
they exceed 27 percent by
the 2050s38
–5 percent47 to –22 percent43

–13 percent for central Africa,
–19 percent for east Africa,
–16 percent in southern Africa,
and –23 percent in west Africa35
(continued on next page)

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Increase in failure rate
of primary season in
mixed rainfed aridsemiarid systems by
about 35–40 percent,
to about one in four
years, up from about
one in five at present32

Maize, millet, and sorghum crop areas are
projected to overlap on average 14 percent, 12 percent
and 15 percent by 2050,
respectively, compared
to 1960–2002 conditions.31

59

60
Observed Vulnerability or
Change

Around 1.5°C
(≈2030s1)

Around 2°C
(≈2040s)

Sorghum

About 19 percent of 2000 crop
production44

Significant negative
impacts on sorghum
suitability in the western Sahelian region
and Southern Africa45

–1547 to –17 percent43

Wheat

About 5 percent of 2000 crop
production46

Risk/Impact

Around 4°C and Above
(≈2080s)

–17 percent47
No trend47

Rice
Millet

Around 3°C
(≈2060s)

–1047 to –1743 percent

About 13 percent of 2000 crop
production48

–6 percent with a range of
–29 to +11 percent.49
–16 to 19 percent for the equatorial fully humid climate zone
(Guinean region of West Africa,
central Africa and most parts of
East Africa)50

Livestock

Groundnut

–1843 percent

Cassava

–843 percent
Severe drought impacts on
livestock. Pastoralists in southern
Ethiopia lost 46 percent of their
cattle and 41 percent of their
sheep and goats to droughts
between 1995 and 1997.51 Damage to livestock stocks by flooding
in the 1990s has been recorded in
the Horn of Africa52

Forage yield change in
the Sikasso region in
Mali is projected to be
–5 to –36 percent, and
as food intake for livestock decreases, rate
of cattle weight gain is
found to be reduced by
–13.6 to –15.7 percent;
while the rate of weight
gain does not change
for sheep and goats53

10 percent increase in yields
of B. decumbens (pasture
species) in east and southern
Africa; 4 percent and 6 percent
decrease in central and west
Africa.35

Tanzania capital city,
Dar es Salaam, 70cm
sea-level rise by 2070s
about US$10 billion of
assets projected59 to
be exposed by 2070,
corresponding to
more than 10 percent
of the projected city
GDP. Damage to port
infrastructure in Dar es
Salaam, could have
serious economic
consequences. The
seaport handles approximately 95 percent
of Tanzania’s international trade and serves
landlocked countries
further inland

Approximately 18 million people
flooded per year60 by 2100 without adaptation.

Potential offshore catch
increases along eastern and
Southeastern coast of SubSaharan Africa of 16 percent
(Madagascar, Mozambique,
Tanzania, and Kenya). With
closer proximity to coast
yield reductions of –16 to
–5 percent projected. Catch
increases up to 100 percent
at the coast of Somalia and
South Africa.54 Significant
reductions in maximum catch
potential for western African
coast of –16 to –5 percent for
Namibia, –31 to 15 percent
for Cameroon and Gabon54,
and up to 50 percent off the
coast of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana,
Liberia, Togo, Nigeria, and
Sierra Leone.55

Marine Fisheries

Coastal Areas

Tanzania has 800 km of coast line
and multiple islands where impact
of sea level rise can already be
seen (salination of wells, destruction of infrastructure)56

Close to 11 million
people flooded every
year by 2100 without
adaptation.57
The largest seaport in
East Africa, Mombasa,
faces major risks.
For 0.3 m sea level rise
around 17 percent of
Mombasa’s area could
be submerged, and a
“larger area rendered
uninhabitable or unusable for agriculture
because of water logging and salt stress”58.
Tourism resources
such as beaches,
historic and cultural
monuments, and port
infrastructure, would be
negatively affected58

Mozambique and Nigeria
projected to be the most
affected African countries
with 6 and 3 million being
flooded annually by 2100.
Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique
and Gambia the highest percentage of population affected
(more than 10 percent).
In Eritrea, a one meter sea
level rise is estimated to cause
damage of over US$ 250 million
(~18 percent of GDP in 2007)
as a result of the submergence
of infrastructure and other
economic installations in Massawa, one of the country’s two
port cities61
(continued on next page)

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Significant reduction in available protein, economic and
job losses projected

61

62
Risk/Impact
Poverty

Observed Vulnerability or
Change
Africa has largest ‘poverty
responses’ to climate shocks62.
Zambia’s national poverty
rate increased by 7.5 percent
over 1991–92, classified as a
severe drought year, and 2.4 percent over 2006–07, classified as a
severe flood year63

Around 1.5°C
(≈2030s1)

Around 2°C
(≈2040s)

Around 3°C
(≈2060s)

The proportion of undernourished children and those
suffering from moderate and
severe stunting is projected
to decrease absent climate
change. With climate change
the proportion undernourished is expected to increase
significantly. The proportion
affected by moderate and
severe stunting is expected to
increase, with the most significant increase 31–55 percent
for severe stunting64

Urban wage-labordependent populations
across the developing
world may be most
affected by once-in–30year climate extremes,
with an average increase
of 30 percent in poverty
compared to the base
period. The poverty rate
for this group in Malawi,
for example, is estimated
to be as much as double
following a once-in30-year climate event,
compared to an average
increase in poverty
of 9.2 percent among
rural agricultural households65

for maize range from –13 percent to –24 percent, and for beans from –69 to –87
percent, respectively, but the variability among different climate models is larger
than the variability for East Africa. (Thornton, Jones, Ericksen, and Challinor
2011).
35
Thornton et al. (2011).
36
For 2020s for most scenario, 1.1–1.3°C above pre-industrial levels globally
(Roudier, Sultan, Quirion, and Berg 2011).
37
By the 2050s 1.6–2.2°C above pre-industrial levels globally (Roudier et al.
2011).
38
Schlenker and Lobell (2010).
39
For the 2080s (2.4–4.3°C for SREA B1, B2, A2, A1F above pre-industrial levels
globally) but only on data point for SRES A1F; the others are all closer to 3°C.
Range is full range with and without CO2 fertilization.
40
One data point only for approximately 4°C (Roudier et al. 2011).
41
Nelson et al. (2010).
42
Lobell, Schlenker, and Costa-Roberts (2011).
43
For a 2050s, global-mean warming of about 2.2°C above pre-industrial levels,
median impacts across SSA (Schlenker and Lobell 2010).
44
Nelson et al. (2010).
45
Ramirez-Villegas, Jarvis, and Läderach (2011).
46
Nelson et al. (2010).
47
Knox, Hess, Daccache, and Wheeler (2012) for 2050s range of different
scenarios and warming levels.
48
Nelson et al. (2010).
49
Across India and Sub-Saharan Africa and all climatic zones considered, for
the highest levels of warming by the 2080s (Berg, De Noblet-Ducoudré, Sultan,
Lengaigne, and Guimberteau 2012).
50
SRESA1B scenario (3.6°C above pre-industrial levels globally) and SRESA2
scenario (4.4°C) or 2100 (Berg et al. 2012).
51
FAO (2008).
52
Little, Mahmoud, and Coppock (2001), cited in Morton (2012).
53
For local temperature increases of 1 to 2.5°C, with variation in magnitude
across parts of the region and models. (Butt, McCarl, Angerer, Dyke, and Stuth
2005).
54
Under a 2°C scenario by 2055 (Cheung et al. 2010).
55
Lam, Cheung, Swartz, and Sumaila (2012). Applying the same method and
scenario as Cheung et al. (2010).
56
ECA (2009).
57
Hinkel et al. (2011). 64 cm SLR scenario by 2100. In the no sea-level rise
scenario, only accounting for delta subsidence and increased population, up to
9 million people would be affected.
58
Awuor, Orindi, and Adwera (2008).
59
Socioeconomic changes and increased coastal flooding induced by sea level
rise and natural subsidence (Kebede and Nicholls 2011).
60
Hinkel et al. (2011). High SLR scenario 126 cm by 2100. In the no sea-level
rise scenario, only accounting for delta subsidence and increased population,
up to 9 million people would be affected.
61
Boko et al., (2007).
62
Ahmed, Diffenbaugh, and Hertel (2009). Of a sample of 16 countries across
Latin America Asia, and Africa, the largest “poverty responses” to climate
shocks were observed in Africa.
63
Thurlow, Zhu, and Diao (2012).
64
Lloyd, Kovats, and Chalabi (2011) estimate the impact of climate-changeinduced changes to crop productivity on undernourished and stunted children
under five years of age by 2050 and find that the proportion of undernourished
children is projected to increase by 52 percent, 116 percent, 82 percent, and
142 percent in central, east, south, and west Sub-Saharan Africa, respectively.
The proportion of stunting among children is projected to increase by 1 percent
(for moderate stunting) or 30 percent (for severe stunting); 9 percent or 55
percent; 23 percent or 55 percent; and 9 percent or 36 percent for central, east,
south, and west Sub-Saharan Africa.
65
Ahmed et al. (2009) scenario approaching 3.5°C above pre-industrial levels
by the end of the century.

63

Chapter
Chapter

4

South East Asia:
Coastal Zones and Productivity at Risk
REGIONAL SUMMARY
In this report, South East Asia refers to a region comprising 12 countries51 with a population of ~590 million in 2010. In 2050, the
population is projected to be around 760 million, 65 percent
urban-based, and concentrated along the coast.
Major impacts on the region and its natural resources are
projected for warming levels of 1.5–2°C, resulting in coral reefs
being threatened with consequent damage to tourism- and fisheriesbased livelihoods and decreases in agricultural production in the
delta regions due to sea-level rise. For example, by the 2040s,
a 30 cm sea-level rise is projected to reduce rice production in the
region’s major rice growing region—the Mekong River Delta—by
about 2.6 million tons per year, or about 11 percent of 2011 production. Marine fish capture is also projected to decrease by
about 50 percent in the southern Philippines during the 2050s due
to warmer sea temperatures and ocean acidification.
With 4°C global warming, there could be severe coastal erosion due to coral reef dieback. Sea level is projected to rise up
to 100 cm by the 2090s; this would be compounded by projected
increases in the intensity of the strongest tropical cyclones making
landfall in the region. In addition, unprecedented heat extremes
over nearly 90 percent of the land area during the summer months
(June, July and August) is likely to result in large negative impacts.

Current Climate Trends and Projected
Climate Change to 2100
Climate projections for South East Asia are very challenging due to
the region’s complex terrain, comprising mountains, valleys, and

coastal zones across a diverse mix of mainland, peninsulas, and
islands; the related regional sea-land interactions; and the large number of interacting climate drivers that give rise to the local climate.

Temperature
In a 2°C world, average summer warming in the region is projected
to be around 1.5°C (1.0–2.0°C) by the 2040s. In a 4°C world,
South East Asian average summer temperatures over land are
projected to increase by around 4.5°C (3.5–6°C) by 2100. This is

substantially lower than the global-mean surface warming over
land, because the region’s climate is more strongly influenced by
sea-surface temperatures that are increasing at a slower rate than
in other regions with a larger continental land surface.
In tropical South East Asia, however, heat extremes are projected
to escalate with extreme temperature events frequently exceeding
temperature ranges due to natural climate variability. For example,
under a 2°C global warming scenario, currently unusual heat
extremes52 during the summer are projected to cover nearly 60–70 percent of the land area. Unprecedented heat extremes could occupy
up to 30–40 percent of land area. In a 4°C world, summer months
that in today´s climate would be termed unprecedented might be the
new normal, affecting nearly 90 percent of the land area during the
summer months. More important, the South East Asia region is one
of two regions (the other being the Amazon) which is projected to
see, in the near-term, a strong increase in monthly heat extremes with
the number of warm days53 projected to increase from 45–90 days/
year under a 2°C world to around 300 days for a 4°C world.

Rainfall
The use of climate models to project future rainfall changes is especially difficult for South East Asia because both the Asian and the
Australian summer monsoons affect the region and large differences
remain between individual models. For 4°C warming, there is no
agreement across models for South East Asia, with changes either
not statistically significant, or ranging from a decrease of 5 percent
to an increase of 10 percent in monsoon rainfall. Despite these
moderate changes, the latest model projections show a substantial
and rising increase in both the magnitude and frequency of heavy
precipitation events. The increase of extreme rainfall events54 is
projected to rise rapidly with warming, and to contribute more
than a 10-percent share of annual rainfall for 2°C and a 50-percent
share for 4°C warming, respectively. At the same time the maximum
number of consecutive dry days, which is a measure for drought,
is also projected to increase, indicating that both minimum and
maximum precipitation extremes are likely to be amplified.

Likely Physical and Biophysical Impacts as a Function of
Projected Climate Change
Sea-level Rise
Sea-level rise along the South East Asian coastlines is projected to
be about 10–15 percent higher than the global mean by the end of
the 21st century. In a 4°C world, the projected regional sea-level
rise is likely55 to exceed 50 cm above present levels56 by 2060,
and 100 cm by 2090, with Manila being especially vulnerable. In
a 2°C world, the rise is significantly lower for all locations, but
still considerable, at 75 (65–85) cm by 2090. Local land subsidence
due to natural or human influences would increase the relative
sea-level rise in specific locations.
66

Tropical Cyclone Risk
An increase in the frequency of the most intense storms57 along
with associated extreme rainfall is projected for South East Asia.
Maximum surface wind speed during tropical cyclones is projected
to increase by 7–18 percent for a warming of around 3.5°C above
pre-industrial levels for the western North Pacific basin, but the
center of activity is projected to shift north and eastward. The
maximum wind speed of tropical cyclones making landfall is
projected to increase by 6 and 9 percent respectively for mainland
South East Asia and the Philippines, combined with a decrease
of 35 and 10 percent respectively in the overall number of landfalling cyclones. As sea-surface temperatures rise, tropical-cyclonerelated rainfall is expected to increase by up to a third, indicating
a higher level of flood risk in low lying and coastal regions.

Saltwater Intrusion
For several South East Asia countries, salinity intrusion in coastal
areas is projected to increase significantly with rising sea levels.
For example, a 1 m sea-level rise by 2100 in the land area affected
by saltwater intrusion in the Mahaka River region in Indonesia
is expected to increase by 7–12 percent under 4°C warming. In
the Mekong River Delta, it is projected that a 30-cm sea-level rise
by the 2050s in both the 2°C and 4°C worlds would increase by
over 30 percent the total current area (1.3 million ha) affected by
salinity intrusion.

Coral Reef Loss and Degradation
Coral reefs flourish in a relatively narrow range of temperature
tolerance and are hence highly vulnerable to sea-surface temperature increases; together with the effects of ocean acidification,
this exposes coral reefs to more severe thermal stress, resulting
in bleaching. Rising sea surface temperatures have already led to
major, damaging coral bleaching events58 in the last few decades.
Under 1.5°C warming, there is a high risk (50-percent probability) of annual bleaching events occurring as early as 2030 in the

52 Extremes are defined by present-day, local natural year-to-year variability of

around 1°C, which are projected to be exceeded frequently even with low levels of
average warming. Unprecedented = record breaking over the entire measurement
recording period.
53 Defined by historical variability, independent of emissions scenario, with temperature beyond the 90th percentile in the present-day climate.
54 Estimated as the share of the total annual precipitation.
55 Where “likely” is defined as >66 percent chance of occurring, using the modeling
approaches adopted in this report.
56 1986–2005 levels.
57 Category 4 and 5 on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.
58 Coral bleaching events can be expected when a regional, warm seasonal maximum
temperature is exceeded by 1°C for more than four weeks, and bleaching becomes
progressively worse at higher temperatures or longer periods over which the regional
threshold temperature is exceeded. While coral reefs can survive a bleaching event,
they are subject to high mortality and take several years to recover. When bleaching
events become too frequent or extreme, coral reefs can fail to recover.

S outh E ast A sia : C oastal Z ones and P roductivit y at R isk

Figure 4.1: South East Asia - The regional pattern of sea-level rise in a 4°C world (left; RCP8.5) as projected by using the semiempirical approach adopted in this report and time-series of projected sea-level rise for two selected cities in the region (right) for
both RCP2.6 (2ºC world) and RCP8.5 (4°C world)

region. Projections indicate that all coral reefs are very likely to
experience severe thermal stress by the year 2050 at warming
levels of 1.5°C–2°C above pre-industrial levels. In a 2°C world,
coral reefs will be under significant threat, and most coral reefs
are projected to be extinct long before 4°C warming is reached
with the loss of associated marine fisheries, tourism, and coastal
protection against sea-level rise and storm surges.

Sector-based and Thematic Impacts
River deltas, such as the Mekong River Delta, experience regular
flooding as part of the natural annual hydrological cycle. Such
flooding plays an important economic and cultural role in the
region’s deltas. Climate change projections for sea-level rise and
tropical cyclone intensity, along with land subsidence caused by
human activities, would expose populations to heightened risks,
including excess flooding, saltwater intrusion, and coastal erosion.
These consequences would occur even though deltaic regions tend
to be relatively resilient to unstable water levels and salinity. The
three river deltas of the Mekong, Irrawaddy, and Chao Phraya, all
with significant land areas below 2 m above sea level, are highly
threatened by these risk factors.
Coastal cities with large and increasing populations and
assets are exposed to climate-change-related risks, including
increased tropical storm intensity, long-term sea-level rise, and
sudden-onset fluvial and coastal flooding. Estimating the number
of people exposed to the impacts of sea-level rise is made difficult

by uncertainties inherent to sea-level rise projections, as well as
population and economic growth scenarios. Bangkok,59 Jakarta,
Ho Chi Minh City, and Manila stand out as being particularly
vulnerable to climate-driven impacts. Many millions in Bangkok
and Ho Chi Minh City are projected to be exposed to the effects
of a 50 cm sea-level rise60 by the 2070s. High levels of growth of
both urban populations and GDP further increase exposure to
climate change impacts in these areas. Further, the effect of heat
extremes are also particularly pronounced in urban areas due to
the urban heat island effect, caused in large part by the density
of buildings and the size of cities, which results in higher human
mortality and morbidity rates in cities than in the rural surroundings. The urban poor are particularly vulnerable to environmental
stresses; floods associated with sea-level rise and storm surges
pose significant flood damage and health risks to populations
in informal settlements. In 2005, about 40 percent of the urban
population of Vietnam and 45 percent of the urban population in
the Philippines lived in informal settlements.
Agricultural production in the region, particularly rice production in the Mekong Delta, is exposed to sea-level rise due to

59 Without adaptation, the area of Bangkok is projected to be inundated result-

ing from flooding due to extreme rainfall events and sea-level rise increases from
around 40 percent under a 15 cm sea-level rise above present levels (which could
occur by the 2030s), to about 70 percent under an 88 cm sea-level rise scenario
(which would be approached by the 2080s under 4°C warming).
60 Assuming 50 cm local subsidence.

A more comprehensive table of impacts and risks for SSA is presented at the end of the Chapter.
Years indicate the decade during which warming levels are exceeded in a business-as-usual scenario exceeding 4°C by the 2080s.
Years indicate the decade during which warming levels are exceeded in a business-as-usual scenario, not in mitigation scenarios limiting warming to these levels, or
below, since in that case the year of exceeding would always be 2100, or not at all.
d
The mean across climate model projections is given. Illustrative uncertainty ranges across the models (minimum to maximum) for 4°C warming are 70–100 percent
for unusual extremes, and 30–100 percent for unprecedented extremes. The maximum frequency of heat extreme occurrence in both cases is close to 100 percent as
indicator values saturate at this level.
a

b
c

its low elevation above sea level. A sea-level rise of 30 cm, which
could occur as early as 2040, is projected to result in the loss of
about 12 percent of the cropping area of the Mekong Delta Province
due to flooding (5 percent loss) and salinity intrusion (7 percent).
Whilst some rice cultivars are more resilient than others, there is
evidence that all rice is vulnerable to sudden and total inundation
when this is sustained for several days, where flooding, sensitivity
thresholds even of relatively resilient rice cultivars may be exceeded
and production severely impacted. Temperature increases beyond
thresholds during critical rice growth phases (tillering, flowering,
grain filling) may further impact productivity.
Aquaculture, which is also at risk from several climate change
impacts, is a rapidly growing and economically important industry
in South East Asia. In Vietnam, for example, it has grown rapidly;
in 2011, it generated about 5 percent of its GDP, up from about 3 percent in 2000. Rapid sectoral growth has also been observed in other
South East Asian countries. Aquaculture also supplies nearly 40 percent of dietary animal protein in South East Asia derived from fish,
and is thus critical to food security in the region. Aquaculture farms
are projected to be damaged by increasingly intense tropical cyclones
and salinity intrusion associated with sea-level rise, particularly for
68

freshwater and brackish water aquaculture farms. In addition increasing temperatures may exceed the tolerance thresholds of regionally
important farmed species. Extreme weather events, such as tropical
cyclones and coastal floods, already affect aquaculture activities in
South East Asia. For example, the category 4 Typhoon Xangsane
devastated more than 1,200 hectares of aquaculture area in Vietnam
in 2006 while the Indonesian Typhoons Vincente (Category 4) and
Saola (Category 2) negatively impacted about 3,000 aquaculture
farmers and resulted in over $9 million in damages to the fishery
sector (Xinhua, 2012).
Fisheries, particularly coral reef fisheries, are expected to
be effected by the impacts of sea-level rise, warmer oceans, and
ocean acidification associated with rising atmospheric and ocean
CO2 concentrations. Substantial reductions in catch potential are
projected. The projected changes in maximum catch potential
range from a 16-percent decrease in the waters of Vietnam to
a 6–16 percent increase around the northern Philippines. Additionally, marine capture fisheries production (not directly associated
with coral systems) are projected to decline by 50 percent around
the southern Philippines. Such shifts in catch potential are likely
to place additional challenges on coastal livelihoods in the region.

S outh E ast A sia : C oastal Z ones and P roductivit y at R isk

Integrated Synthesis of Climate Change
Impacts in the South East Asia Region
South East Asia is highly and increasingly exposed to slow
onset impacts associated with sea-level rise, ocean warming and
acidification, coral bleaching, and associated loss of biodiversity,
combined with sudden-onset impacts associated with increased
tropical cyclone intensity and greater heat extremes. The combined
impacts are likely to have adverse effects on several sectors simultaneously. The cumulative effects of the slow-onset impacts may
undermine resilience and increase vulnerability to more extreme
weather events, with this complex pattern of exposure increasing
with higher levels of warming and sea-level rise.

Growing Risks to Populations, Livelihoods and Food
Production in River Deltas
Populations and associated cropping and fisheries systems and
livelihoods along the rivers and in the river deltas are expected
to be the most severely affected by risks from rising sea levels,
more intense rainfall events, and storm surges associated with
tropical cyclones.
For example, the Mekong River and its tributaries are crucial to
rice production in Vietnam. A total of 12 provinces constitute the
Mekong Delta, popularly known as the “Rice Bowl” of Vietnam;
it is home to some 17 million people, of whom 80 percent are
engaged in rice cultivation. The delta produces around 50 percent
of the country’s total production and contributes significantly to
Vietnam’s rice exports. Any shortfall in rice production in this area
because of climate change would not only affect the economy in
and food security of Vietnam but would also have repercussions
for the international rice market.
The Mekong Delta is also Vietnam’s most important fishing
region. It is home to almost half of Vietnam’s marine fishing vessels and produces two thirds of Vietnam’s fish from aquaculture
systems. Important industries such as aquaculture are projected to
suffer increasing costs and damages associated with salinization
and rising temperatures. Observed human vulnerability in deltas in
the region is high: When tropical cyclone Nargis61 hit the Irrawaddy
River Delta in Myanmar in 2008 it resulted in over 80,000 deaths,
temporarily displaced 800,000 people, submerged large areas of
farming land, and caused substantial damage to food production
and storage.
Health impacts associated with saltwater intrusion are likely to
increase. Sea-level rise and tropical cyclones may increase salinity
intrusion, thereby contaminating freshwater resources—an effect
that can persist for years. The most common health implication is
hypertension; however there are a broad range of health problems
potentially linked to increased salinity exposure through bathing,
drinking, and cooking. These include miscarriages, skin disease,
acute respiratory infection, and diarrheal disease.

Increasing Pressure on Coastal Cities and Urban
Exposure
Especially in South East Asia, coastal cities concentrate increasingly large populations and assets exposed to increased tropical
storm intensity, long-term sea-level rise, sudden-onset coastal
flooding, and other risks associated with climate change. Without
adaptation, Bangkok is projected to be inundated due to extreme
rainfall events and sea-level rise increases from around 40 percent
under a 15 cm sea-level rise above present levels (which could
occur by the 2030s) to about 70 percent under an 88 cm sea-level
rise scenario (which could occur by the 2080s under 4°C warming). The effect of heat extremes are particularly pronounced in
urban areas due to the urban heat island effect; this could result
in high human mortality and morbidity rates in cities. These risks
are particularly acute, as in the Philippines and Vietnam, where
almost 40 percent of the population lives in informal settlements,
where health threats can quickly be exacerbated by a lack of, and/
or damage to, sanitation and water facilities. The high population
density in such areas compounds these risks.
The projected degradation and loss of coral reefs, decreased
fish availability, and pressures on other near-coastal rural production due to sea-level rise within the next few decades is likely
to lead to diminishing livelihoods in coastal and deltaic areas.
Increased migration to urban areas has already been occurring.
Urban migration may result in more urban dwellers being exposed
to climate impacts in the cities of South East Asia, especially new
arrivals who are likely to crowd into existing and densely populated
informal settlements.

Compound Risks to the Tourism Industry and to
Businesses
Projected increases in sea-level rise, the intensity of tropical
cyclones, and the degradation and loss of coral reefs pose significant risks to the tourism industry by damaging infrastructure and
natural resources and assets that enhance the region’s appeal as
a tourist destination. Research indicates that the threat of tropical cyclones appears to have a negative effect on tourists’ choice
of destination on the same scale as deterrents such as terrorist
attacks and political crises.
Loss of coastal assets due to erosion has already been observed
and can be expected to accelerate. Sea-level rise has already contributed directly to increased coastal erosion in the Red River Delta
and other regions. Coastal erosion in the Mekong River Delta is
expected to increase significantly under a 100 cm sea-level rise
by 2100. Projected beach losses for the San Fernando Bay area
of the Philippines will substantially affect beach assets and a
considerable number of residential structures.

Coral bleaching and reef degradation and losses are very likely
to accelerate in the next 10–20 years; hence, revenue generated
from diving and sport fishing also appears likely to be affected
in the near term. The degradation of coral reefs could result in
the loss of fisheries and the coastal protection offered by reefs, as
well as the loss of tourists upon whom coastal populations and
economies often depend.
The risks and damages projected for a warming level of 1.5–2°C
in South East Asia are very significant. The physical exposure to
climate change at this level of warming includes substantial areas

of South East Asia subjected to unprecedented heat extremes,
50 cm of sea-level rise by the 2050s and 75 cm or more by 2100.
The biophysical damages projected include the loss of large areas
of coral reefs, significant reductions in marine food production,
and more intense tropical cyclones with related storm surges and
flooding. Substantial losses of agricultural production in important rice-growing regions are projected to result from sea-level
rise, as is the risk of significant flooding in major coastal cities.
Significant damages to the tourism industry and to aquaculture
are also projected.

Introduction

Regional Patterns of Climate Change

This report defines South East Asia as Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. Specific attention is given to Vietnam and the Philippines. For the projections
on changes to temperature, precipitation, and sea-level rise, the
definition of South East Asia from the IPCC´s special report on
(SREX) region 24 is used.62
Despite continued strong economic growth and a burgeoning
middle class, poverty and inequality remain significant challenges
in the region. The socioeconomic conditions in these countries are
diverse in terms of population size, income, and the distribution
of the inhabitants across urban and rural areas. In addition, a
number of geographic factors influence the nature and extent of
the physical impacts of climate change. Parts of South East Asia
are located within a tropical cyclone belt and are characterized
by archipelagic landscapes and relatively high coastal population
density. This makes the region particularly vulnerable to the following impacts:

Making climate projections for South East Asia is challenging due
to the complex terrain, the mix of mainlands, peninsulas, and
islands, the related regional sea-land interactions, and the large
number of complex climate phenomena characterizing the region.
The region’s climate is mainly tropical and determined by the East
Asian monsoon, a sub-system of the Asian-Australian monsoon,
which is interconnected with the Indian monsoon (P. Webster 2006).

• Sea-level rise
• Increases in heat extremes
• Increased intensity of tropical cyclones
• Ocean warming and acidification
These physical impacts are expected to affect a number of
sectors, including human health, tourism, aquaculture, and
fisheries. Although changes to precipitation and temperature
are expected to have adverse effects on terrestrial ecosystems,
these and other critical biophysical impacts are outside the
scope of this report.
River deltas and coastal areas are a key focus of this regional
analysis; these are areas where many of these impacts occur
and they pose severe risks to coastal livelihoods. Further
attention is given to coastal cities, which are often situated
in these deltas and contain a high concentration of people
and assets.
70

Observed Trends
Observed trends show a mean temperature increase around the
South East Asian Seas at an average rate of between 0.27–0.4°C
per decade since the 1960s (Tangang, Juneng, and Ahmad 2006)
and, for Vietnam, a rate of about 0.26°C per decade since 1971
(Nguyen, Renwick, and McGregor 2013). This is more than twice
the global average rate of about 0.13°C per decade for 1956–2005
(P. D. Jones et al. 2007). Trends in extreme temperature reveal a
significant increase in hot days and warm nights and a decrease
in cool days and cold nights (Manton et al. 2001). There is some
indication of an increase in total precipitation, although these trends
are not statistically robust and are spatially incoherent (Caesar et
al. 2011). While regionally different, an increase in frequency and
intensity of extreme precipitation events is reported (Chang 2010).

Projected Temperature Changes
In a 4°C world the subset of CMIP5 GCMs used within the ISIMIP framework and this report projects South East Asian summer temperatures over land to increase by 4.5°C (model range
from 3.5°C to 6°C) by 2100 (Figure 4.2). This is substantially lower
than the global-mean land-surface warming, since the region’s
climate is driven by sea surface temperature, which is increasing
at a smaller rate. In a 2°C world, the absolute summer warming

62 With minor changes at the northern boundary.

S outh E ast A sia : C oastal Z ones and P roductivit y at R isk

would be limited to around 1.5°C (model spread from 1.0–2.0°C)
above the 1951–1980 baseline, to be reached in the 2040s. The
strongest warming is expected in North Vietnam and Laos, with
the multimodel mean projecting up to 5.0°C under 4°C global
warming by 2071–2099 and up to 2°C under 2°C global warming (Figure 4.3). The expected future warming is large compared
to the local year-to-year natural variability. In a 4°C world, the
monthly temperature distribution of almost all land areas in South
East Asia shifts by six standard deviations or more toward warmer
values. In a 2°C world, this shift is substantially smaller, but still
about 3–4 standard deviations.

Figure 4.2: Temperature projections for South East Asian land
area, for the multi-model mean (thick line) and individual models
(thin lines) under RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 for the months of JJA

Projected Changes in Heat Extremes
Heat extremes exceeding a threshold defined by the local natural
year-to-year variability are projected to strongly increase in South
The multi-model mean has been smoothed to give the climatological trend.

Figure 4.3: Multi-model mean temperature anomaly for RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right) for the months of JJA for South East Asia

Temperature anomalies in degrees Celsius (top row) are averaged over the time period 2071–99 relative to 1951–80, and normalized by the local standard deviation
(bottom row).

East Asia (Figures4.4 and 4.5). Even under the 2°C warming
scenario, the multimodel mean projects that, during the second
half of the 21st century, 30 percent of the South East Asian land
area would be hotter than 5-sigma during boreal summer months
(see Figure 4.5). Under the 4°C warming scenario, this value
approaches 90 percent by 2100. It should be noted, however, that
the model spread is large, as the averaging is performed over a
small land surface area.
The strongest increases in frequency and intensity of extremes
are projected for Indonesia and the southern Philippine islands
(see Figure 4.4). Roughly half of the summer months is projected
to be beyond 5-sigma under the 2°C warming scenario (i.e.,
5-sigma would become the new normal) and essentially all summer months would be 5-sigma under the 4°C warming scenario
(i.e., a present-day 5-sigma event would be an exceptionally cold
month in the new climate of 2071–99). Mainland South East Asia

is projected to be much less impacted; the conditions that are projected for Indonesia under the 2°C warming scenario only occur
inland under the 4°C warming scenario. Thus, in the near term,
the South East Asian region is projected to see a strong increase
in monthly heat extremes, defined by the limited historical variability, independent of emissions scenario.
Consistent with these findings, Sillmann and Kharin (2013a)
report that South East Asia is one of two regions (the other being
the Amazon) where the number of heat extremes is expected to
increase strongly even under a low-emission scenario (although the
inter-model spread is substantial). Under a low-emission scenario,
warm nights (beyond the 90th percentile in present-day climate)
would become the new normal, with an occurrence-probability
around 60 percent. In addition, the duration of warm spells would
increase to somewhere between 45 and 90 days, depending on
the exact location. Under emission scenario RCP8.5, warm spells

Figure 4.4: Multi-model mean of the percentage of boreal summer months in the time period 2071–2099 with temperatures
greater than 3-sigma (top row) and 5-sigma (bottom row) for scenario RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right) over South East Asia

72

S outh E ast A sia : C oastal Z ones and P roductivit y at R isk

Figure 4.5: Multi-model mean (thick line) and individual
models (thin lines) of the percentage of South East Asian land
area warmer than 3-sigma (top) and 5-sigma during boreal
summer months (JJA) for scenarios RCP2.6 and RCP8.5

would become nearly year-round (~300 days), and almost all
nights (~95 percent) would be beyond the present-day 90th percentile (Sillmann and Kharin 2013a).

Precipitation Projections
While multimodel ensembles of GCMs do manage to represent
monsoon systems, the difference is large among individual models;
some completely fail in reproducing the observed patterns. The
monsoon mechanisms in South East Asia are particularly hard to
reproduce as both the Asian and the Australian summer monsoons
affect the region (Hung, Liu, and Yanai 2004). Nicolas C. Jourdain
et al. (2013) present monsoon projections based on CMIP5 models
that perform best in reproducing present-day circulation patterns.
Although they report an increase of 5–20 percent monsoon rainfall
over the whole Indo-Australian region in the second half of the 21st
century for 4°C warming, there is no agreement across models
over South East Asia. The changes are either not statistically

significant or range from a decrease of 5 percent to an increase
of 10 percent in monsoon rainfall.
For the CMIP5 models included in the ISIMIP project (Figure 4.6),
there is little change in annual mean precipitation over Vietnam
and the Philippines in a 2°C world and a slight increase in a 4°C
world relative to the 1951–80 reference period. Again, there is
very little model agreement for this region. Precipitation appears
to increase by about 10 percent during the dry season (DJF) for
the 2°C warming scenario and more than 20 percent for the 4°C
warming scenario—but it is important to note that these increases
are relative to a very low absolute precipitation over the dry season.
In the Mekong River Basin, a United States Agency for
International Development (2013) study63 projects an increase in
annual rainfall precipitation ranging from 3–14 percent. Seasonal
variability is projected to increase; the wet season would see a
rise in precipitation between 5–14 percent in the southern parts
of the basin (southern Vietnam and Cambodia). In this area, as a
consequence, the wet season is expected to become wetter and the
dry season drier. Drier areas in the north of the basin are projected
to experience relative increases in precipitation of 3–10 percent,
corresponding to a slight increase of 50 to 100 mm per year.
Although global climate models are needed to project interactions between global circulation patterns of atmosphere and
ocean, regional models, which offer a higher spatial resolution,
provide a way to take into account complex regional geography.
Chotamonsak, Salathé, Kreasuwan, Chantara, and Siriwitayakorn
(2011) use the WRF regional climate model for studying climate
change projections over South East Asia. Lacking global circulation patterns and interactions across regions, regional models
need conditions at the model’s boundaries prescribed by global
models, for which the authors apply results from ECHAM5 for
the A1B scenario by mid-century (about 2°C warming globally).
Likewise, Lacombe, Hoanh, and Smakhtin (2012) use the PRECIS regional model—for mainland South East Asia only—with
boundary conditions from ECHAM4 under the IPCC SRES scenario A2 and B2 (about 2°C warming globally). These studies
find that the largest changes in annual mean precipitation, as
well as the extremes, occur over the oceans. For land areas, the
regional models largely confirm mean changes of global models
(see Figure 4.6), with somewhat increased precipitation over the
mainland. Chotamonsak et al. (2011) warn that such regional
studies should be expanded with boundary conditions of multiple global models. They further note that changes in mean and

63 The United States Agency for International Development (2013) report projects

the impacts of climate change for the period 2045–69 under the IPCC SRES scenario
A1B (corresponding to about a 2.3°C temperature increase above pre-industrial
levels) for the Lower Mekong Basin. For the study, authors used six GCMs (NCAR
CCSM 3.0; MICRO3.2 hires; GISS AOM; CNRM CM3; BCCR BCM2.0; GFDL CM2.1)
and used 1980–2005 as a baseline period.

Figure 4.6: Multi-model mean of the percentage change in
annual (top), dry season (DJF, middle) and wet season (JJA,
bottom) precipitation for RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right) for
South East Asia by 2071–99 relative to 1951–80

Indonesia, increases were projected for Myanmar and other
maritime parts of the region. None of the changes were found
to be statistically significant. A different indicator of drought,
the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), relates changes in
water balance to locally “normal” conditions. On this relative
scale, the projected pattern of drought risk is comparable. By
contrast, Taylor et al. (2012) noted a consistent increase in
drought risk indicated by PDSI for the whole region, with no
significant change across Myanmar.

Extreme Precipitation Events

Hatched areas indicate uncertainty regions, with models disagreeing on the
direction of change.

extreme precipitation in a regional model over South East Asia
might be biased, since high-resolution models produce stronger
spatial and temporal variability in tropical cyclones, which in
one single model run might not be representative of the broader
statistical probability.
Based on their projected changes in precipitation and temperature over mainland South East Asia only, Lacombe et al. 2012 suggest
that these changes may be beneficial to the region and generate
higher agricultural yields, as precipitation and temperatures may
increase in the driest and coldest areas respectively. However, as
the authors modelled only changes in climate variables and not in
agricultural yields, and did not place their results into the context
of literature on projections of the agricultural sector, there is little
analytical evidence to support their assertion.64

Despite the projections of moderate changes in mean precipitation, a substantial increase in the magnitude and frequency of
heavy precipitation events is projected for South East Asia based
on CMIP5 models (Sillmann and Kharin 2013a). The median
increase of the extreme wet day precipitation share of the total
annual precipitation is projected to be greater than 10 percent
and 50 percent for 2°C and 4°C warming scenarios respectively.
At the same time, the maximum number of consecutive dry days
as a measure of drought is also projected to increase, indicating
that both minimum and maximum precipitation extremes are
amplified.
This general picture arising from global model results is confirmed by higher-resolution regional modeling studies (Chotamonsak et al. 2011; Lacombe et al. 2012), which add that the largest
increase in extreme precipitation, expressed by an index combining
changes in frequency and intensity, occurs over the oceans and
over Cambodia and southern Vietnam.

Tropical Cyclone Risks
Tropical cyclones (TCs) pose a major risk to coastal human systems. In combination with future sea-level rise, the risk of coastal
flooding due to strong TCs is already increasing and could be
amplified in the event of future TC intensification (R. J. Nicholls
et al. 2008). Tropical cyclones are strongly synoptic to meso-scale,
low-pressure systems, which derive energy primarily from evaporation from warm ocean waters in the presence of high winds and
low surface pressure and from condensation in convective clouds
near their center (Holland 1993). According to their maximum
sustained wind speed, tropical low-pressure systems are categorized from tropical depressions (below 63 km/h), tropical storms
(63–118 km/h), and tropical cyclones (119 km/h and larger).

Drought
Dai (2012) used global models to project changes in drought,
resulting from the long-term balance of temperature, precipitation, and other variables. While soil-moisture content was
projected to decrease over much of the mainland and southern
74

64 In addition, the modeled increase in mean precipitation only concerns Myanmar,

for which the regional model of Chotamonsak et al. (2011) shows little change, while
the temperature increase seems fairly uniform over mainland South East Asia and
the largest increases reported by Lacombe et al. (2012) are found over eastern India
and southern China—which is confirmed by Chotamonsak et al. (2011).

S outh E ast A sia : C oastal Z ones and P roductivit y at R isk

According to the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, TCs can
be further classified into five categories according to their wind
speed and resulting sea-level rise.

South East Asian Context
In South East Asia, tropical cyclones (TCs) are called typhoons and
affect vast parts of the region, particularly the islands and coastal
areas of the mainland. Most TCs reaching landfall in South East
Asia originate from the western North Pacific basin, the region
with the highest frequency of TCs in the world (Holland 1993).
There are also some TCs that develop in the northern Indian Ocean
basin, specifically in the Bay of Bengal.
Strong TCs have a devastating impact on human settlements,
infrastructure, agricultural production, and ecosystems, with
damages resulting from flooding due to heavy rainfall, high wind
speeds, and landslides (Peduzzi et al. 2012) (Box 4.1). Storm surges
associated with tropical cyclones can temporarily raise sea levels
by 3–10 meters (Syvitski et al. 2009).

Box 4.1: Observed Vulnerability
Category 4 Tropical Cyclone Nargis, which inundated a wide
area up to six meters above sea level in the Irrawaddy River
Delta in Myanmar in 2008, illustrates the region’s vulnerability
to these extreme weather events. Nargis´ official death toll was
approximately 84,000, with 54,000 people missing in the aftermath of the disaster. Overall, 2.4 million people were affected
and 800,000 people were temporarily displaced (Association of
South East Asian Nations 2008). The cyclone severely affected
the agricultural sector. The equivalent of 80,000 tons of agricultural production and 251,000 tons of stored crops were damaged,
and approximately 34,000 hectares of cropland were affected.
Nargis’ cumulative damage to farm equipment and plantation
crops accounted for Kyatt 47 billion, equal to about $55 million
(Association of South East Asian Nations 2008).
Severe damage and losses have also occurred in Vietnam in
recent years due to cyclones, including Xangsane in 2006. In the
Philippines, 7–8 cyclones make landfall every year (Yumul, Cruz,
and Servando 2011).

et al. 2010). The western North Pacific and northern Indian Ocean
do not exhibit a recent change in TC frequency. For example, the
number of land-falling TCs in Vietnam and the Philippines does not
display a significant long-term trend over the 20th century (Chan
and Xu 2009); there is, however, a distinct positive correlation
with the phasing of the ENSO (Kubota and Chan 2009). During the
same time, western North Pacific TCs exhibited a weak increase in
intensity (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2012) and a
significant co-variation with ENSO, with a tendency toward more
intense TCs during El Niño years (Camargo and Sobel 2005). This
was probably mediated by the associated sea-surface temperature
patterns (Emanuel 2007; Villarini and Vecchi 2012).
In contrast to the general absence of a global trend in total TC
frequency, there has been a clear upward trend in the global annual
number of strong category 4 and 5 tropical cyclones since 1975,
as seen in the western North Pacific (1975–89: 85; 1990–2004:
116) and the Northern Indian Ocean (1975–89: 1; 1990–2004: 7)
(P. J. Webster, Holland, Curry, and Chang 2005). For the time
period 1981–2006, there have been significant upward trends in
the lifetime maximum TC wind speeds both globally and for the
western North Pacific and Northern Indian Ocean basins (Elsner,
Kossin, and Jagger 2008a), with the 30-percent strongest TCs
shifting to higher maximum wind speeds.
The relationship between TC intensity and damage potential
is generally highly non-linear. This implies that increases in the
intensity of the strongest TCs can outperform even a decrease in the
overall number of typhoons. Indeed, the observed tendency toward
stronger TCs both globally and in South East Asia is accompanied
by increasing economic losses. These are also strongly related to
robust population and economic growth, especially in the most
vulnerable low-lying coastal areas (Peduzzi et al. 2012).

Projected Changes in Tropical Cyclones
The changes in tropical cyclones as a result of future climate
change need to distinguish between TC frequency and TC intensity.
Most literature on TC projections draws from climate model runs
that reach on average about 3.5°C warming above pre-industrial
levels. There appear to be no recent studies on TC projections for
global-mean warming levels of 2°C.

Tropical Cyclone Frequency
On a global scale, TC frequencies are consistently projected to either
decrease somewhat or remain approximately unchanged by 2100,
with a less robust decrease in the Northern Hemisphere (Emanuel,
Sundararajan, & Williams 2008; Knutson et al. 2010). Model projections vary by up to 50 percent for individual ocean basins.
Future changes in TC frequency are uncertain for the western
North Pacific, which includes the South China Sea and the Philippine Sea and borders mainland South East Asia and countries
75

like the Philippines and Malaysia. Studies that use atmospheric
models that explicitly simulate TCs generally show an overall
decrease in the frequency of TCs over this basin as a whole, with
some exceptions (Sugi et al. 2009; Knutson et al. 2010; Held and
Zhao 2011; Murakami et al. 2012). By contrast, projections of indices
for cyclogenesis (the likelihood of TCs developing and hence an
indicator of frequency) generally show an increase under warming for multimodel ensembles (Caron and Jones 2007; Emanuel
et al. 2008). However, recent work (Zhao and Held 2011) shows
that the statistical relationships between cyclogenesis parameters
and the frequency of TCs, which are strong in most ocean basins,
break down in the western North Pacific. This is particularly the
case with the South China Sea, possibly because the interactions
between monsoon circulation, sea-surface temperatures, and cyclone
activity are not properly accounted for through commonly applied
cyclogenesis parameters. Within the western North Pacific basin,
the different methods and models generally agree on a north and/
or eastward shift of the main TC development region (Emanuel et
al. 2008; Held and Zhao 2011; Kim, Brown, and McDonald 2010;
Li et al. 2010; Yokoi and Takayabu 2009); the strongest agreement
across models and methods on a decrease in frequency is found
for the South China Sea (Held and Zhao 2011; Murakami, Sugi,
and Kitoh 2012; Yokoi and Takayabu 2009). In a recent study, these
changes lead to a decrease in frequency of TCs making landfall
of 35 percent and 10 percent for mainland South East Asia and
the Philippines respectively (Murakami et al. 2011).

Tropical Cyclone Intensity
Future surface warming and changes in the mean thermodynamic
state of the tropical atmosphere lead to an increase in the upper
limit of the distribution of TC intensities (Knutson et al. 2010),
which was also observed over the years 1981–2006 (Elsner, Kossin, and Jagger 2008). Consistently, the number of strongest
category 5 cyclones is projected to increase in the western North
Pacific, with both mean maximum surface wind speed and lifetime
maximum surface wind speed during TCs projected to increase
statistically significantly by 7 percent and 18 percent, respectively,
for a warming of about 3.5°C above pre-industrial levels (Murakami
et al. 2012). The average instantaneous maximum wind speed of
TCs making landfall is projected to increase by about 7 percent
across the basin (Murakami et al. 2012), with increases of 6 percent
and 9 percent for mainland South East Asia and the Philippines,
respectively (Murakami et al. 2011).
With higher sea-surface temperatures, atmospheric moisture
content is projected to increase over the 21st century, which might
lead to increasing TC-related rainfall. Various studies project a
global increase in storm-centered rainfall over the 21st century
of between 3–37 percent (Knutson et al. 2010). For the western
North Pacific, a consistent corresponding trend is found, with rates
depending on the specific climate model used (Emanuel et al. 2008).
76

Regional Sea-level Rise
As explained in Chapter 2, current sea levels and projections of
future sea-level rise are not uniform across the world. South East
Asian coastlines stretch roughly from 25° north to 15° south
latitude. Closer to the equator, projections of local sea-level rise
generally show a stronger increase compared to higher latitudes.
Land subsidence, in the tropics mainly induced by human activities,
increases the risks to coastal areas due to sea-level rise. Without
taking land subsidence into account, sea-level rise in the region is
projected to reach up to 100 cm and 75 cm by the 2090s in a 4°C
and 2°C world, respectively.

Climate Change-induced Sea-level Rise
Due to the location of the region close to the equator, sea-level
rise along the South East Asian coastlines projected by the end
of the 21st century relative to 1986–2005 is generally 10–15 percent higher than the global mean. Figure 4.7 shows the regional
sea-level rise in 2081–2100 in a 4°C world. As described in
Chapter 2, these projections rely on a semi-empirical approach
developed by (Rahmstorf (2007) and Schaeffer, Hare, Rahmstorf,
and Vermeer (2012) for global-mean rise, combined with Perrette, Landerer, Riva, Frieler, and Meinshausen (2013) to derive
regional patterns.65
Figure 4.8 shows a time series for locations in South East Asia
that receive special attention in Chapter 4 under “Risks to Coastal
Cities” and “Coastal and Marine Ecosystems.” In a 4°C world,
locations in South East Asia are projected to face a sea-level rise
around 110 cm (66 percent uncertainty range 85–130) by 2080–2100

65 More details on the methodology used to assess regional sea-level rise in the

report can be found in Chapter 2 on “Sea-level Rise.”

S outh E ast A sia : C oastal Z ones and P roductivit y at R isk

(a common time period in the impact studies assessed in the following sections). The rise near Yangon and Krung Thep (Bangkok)
is a bit lower (by 5 cm). For all locations, sea-level rise is projected to be considerably higher than the global mean and higher
than the other regions highlighted in this report, with Manila at
the high end. For these locations, regional sea-level rise is likely
(>66 percent chance) to exceed 50 cm above 1986–2005 levels
by about 2060 and 100 cm by 2090, both about 10 years before
the global mean exceeds these levels.
In a 2°C world, the rise is significantly lower for all locations,
but still considerable at 75 (66 percent uncertainty range 65–85) cm.
An increase of 0.5 meters is likely exceeded by about 2070,
only 10 years after this level is exceeded under a pathway that
reaches 4°C warming by the end of the century. However, by
the 2050s, sea-level rise in the 2°C and 4°C scenarios diverges
rapidly and 1 meter is not likely to be exceeded until well into
the 22nd century under 2°C warming.
It should be noted that these projections include only the
effects of human-induced global climate change and not those
due to local land subsidence.

Figure 4.8: Local sea-level rise above 1986–2005 mean level
as a result of global climate change (excluding local change
due to land subsidence by natural or human causes)

Additional Risk Due to Land Subsidence
Deltaic regions are at risk of land subsidence due to the natural
process whereby accumulating weight causes layers of sediment
to become compressed. Human activities such as drainage and
groundwater extraction significantly exacerbate this process,
which increases the threat of coastal flooding. The most prominent
examples of such anthropogenic subsidence are found at the megadeltas of Mekong, Vietnam (6 mm per year); Irrawaddy, Myanmar
(3.4–6 mm per year); and Chao Phraya, Thailand (13–150 mm)
(Syvitski et al. 2009). The Bangkok metropolitan area in the Chao
Phraya delta has experienced up to two meters of subsidence over
the 20th century and a shoreline retreat of one kilometer south
of the city (Robert J. Nicholls and Cazenave 2010). The coastal
zone of Semarang, among the ten largest cities in Indonesia with
about 1.5 million inhabitants and one of the most important
harbors in Central Java, is another example of the impact of land
subsidence. The area is increasingly affected, with an estimated
area of 2,227 hectares lying below sea-level by 2020 (Marfai and
King 2008).

Risks to Rural Livelihoods in Deltaic and
Coastal Regions
Flooding as part of the natural annual cycle plays an important
economic and cultural role in the Mekong and other river deltas
(Warner 2010). Processes of sea-level rise and land subsidence,
however, increase the vulnerability of human populations and
economic activities such as agriculture and aquaculture to risks,
including saltwater intrusion and coastal erosion. Cyclones and
other extreme events exacerbate these threats.

Observed and Projected Biophysical
Stressors in Deltaic and Coastal Regions
Deltaic and coastal regions are already vulnerable to the consequences of coastal flooding and tropical cyclones. It is projected
that saltwater intrusion and coastal erosion will adversely impact
human and economic activities carried out in these areas. Agriculture and aquaculture occurring in coastal and deltaic regions,
which are strong components of South East Asian livelihoods, are
projected to be significantly affected by climate change.

South East Asian deltas are densely populated areas. The population
density of the Mekong River Delta province, at 427 people per square
kilometer, is the third highest in the country (General Statistics Office
Of Vietnam 2011). The river deltas are also the region’s rice bowls.
The Mekong River Delta province is densely farmed and home to
77

approximately 47 percent of the farms in Vietnam (General Statistics
Office Of Vietnam 2011). In 2011, this delta produced about 23.2 million tons of rice, or approximately 55 percent of the total Vietnamese
rice production (General Statistics Office Of Vietnam 2013). The rice
production of the Mekong Delta is of significant importance in terms
of both food security and export revenues. In 2011, the Mekong River
Delta produced 23.2 million tons of rice paddy (General Statistics
Office Of Vietnam 2013); 18.4 million tons were supplied to the
population. The Delta rice production represents about 125 percent
of the Vietnamese rice supply for 2011. Furthermore, 72.4 percent of
the aquaculture, an industry which accounts for nearly 5 percent of
GDP in Vietnam, was located in the Mekong River Delta province
in 2010 (General Statistics Office of Vietnam 2012).
Past flooding events have highlighted the vulnerability of the
South East Asian deltas. Critical South East Asian rice-growing
areas are already considered to be in increasingly greater peril
(Syvitski et al. 2009). The area of land that lies below 2 m above
sea level—which in the Mekong River Delta is as much as the total
land area—is vulnerable to the risks associated with sea-level rise
and land subsidence. The area affected by past storm surge and
river flooding events indicates further vulnerability.
Table 4.2 shows the areas of land in the three main deltas in
the region that are at risk.

Saltwater Intrusion
Saltwater intrusion poses risks to agricultural production as
well as to human health. The movement of saline ocean water
into freshwater aquifers can result in contamination of drinking
water resources. For example, following high levels of saltwater
intrusion in the Mekong River Delta in 2005, Long An province’s 14,693 hectares of sugar cane production was reportedly
diminished by 5–10 percent; 1,093 hectares of rice in Duc Hoa
district were also destroyed (MoNRE 2010).

between groundwater and seawater including through canals
and drainage channels. Due to its higher density, saltwater can
push inland beneath freshwater (Richard G. Taylor et al. 2012).
Human activities (i.e., groundwater extraction from coastal wells
that lowers the freshwater table, which is increasingly undertaken
to expand shrimp farming) can considerably increase the level of
saltwater intrusion and its extension inland (Richard G. Taylor
et al. 2012; Ferguson and Gleeson 2012). In addition, long-term
changes in climatic variables (e.g., precipitation, temperature)
and land use significantly affect groundwater recharge rates and
thus exacerbate the risk of saltwater intrusion associated with
non-climatic drivers and reductions in inflows (Ranjan, Kazama,
Sawamoto, and Sana 2009).
Sea-level rise and tropical cyclone-related storm surges may
increase salinity intrusion in coastal aquifers (Werner and Simmons 2009; Anderson 2002; A. M. Wilson, Moore, Joye, Anderson,
and Schutte 2011), thereby contaminating freshwater resources
(Green et al. 2011; Richard G. Taylor et al. 2012). The effects of
saltwater intrusion due to tropical cyclones remain long after the
event itself; coastal aquifer contamination has been observed to
persist for years (Anderson 2002). In the South East Asian megadeltas, saltwater intrusion into coastal aquifers is expected to be
more severely affected by storm surges than by mean sea-level rise
(Taylor et al. 2012). The risk of saltwater intrusion is particularly
relevant for smaller islands, where freshwater can only be trapped
in small layers and the resulting aquifers are highly permeable
(Praveena, Siraj, and Aris 2012).
There is an ongoing debate about the possible long-term effects
of rising mean sea levels on saltwater intrusion. A case study in
California revealed that groundwater extraction is a much larger
contributor to saltwater intrusion than rising mean sea levels
(Loáiciga, Pingel, and Garcia 2012). The response of coastal
aquifers to seawater intrusion is highly non-linear, however, as
depth, managerial status (volume of groundwater discharge), and
timing of rise each act as critical factors determining the intrusion
depth in response to even small rises in sea levels. This implies
the potential existence of local tipping points, whereby a new state

Table 4.2: Areas at risk in South East Asian river deltas

Delta

Total Land Area (in
km2)

Irrawaddy, Myanmar

20,571

Mekong, Vietnam

40,519 (for the Mekong
River Delta Province)

Chao Phraya, Thailand

11,329

Area <2m Above
Sea Level (km2)

Area that Has Experienced Recent
Flooding Due to Storm Surges (in km2)

is reached in which responses to small changes in conditions are
large and can rapidly lead to full seawater intrusion into a coastal
aquifer (Mazi, Koussis, and Destouni 2013).

Projections of Saltwater Intrusion
Salinity intrusion into rivers is projected to increase considerably
for several South East Asian countries. In the case of the Mahakam
river region in Indonesia, for example, the land area affected by
saltwater intrusion is expected to increase by 7–12 percent under
a 4°C warming scenario and a 100 cm sea-level rise by 2100 (Mcleod,
Hinkel, et al. 2010). In the Mekong River Delta, it is projected that the
total area affected by salinity intrusion with concentrations higher
than 4 g/l will increase from 1,303,000 hectares to 1,723,000 hectares with a 30 cm sea-level rise (World Bank 2010b).
A United States Agency for International Development
(2013) study66 also projects changes in salinity intrusion under
a 30 cm sea-level rise during the 2045–2069 period, which are
expected to be moderate during the wet season but significantly
more severe during the dry season. During the wet seasons, salinity intrusion levels are projected to be close to 1980–2005 levels,
both in terms of maximum salinity and duration at a level of 4g
per liter. During the dry season, salinity is expected to increase
over 133,000 hectares located in the Mekong River Delta. Maximum salinity concentration is projected to increase by more
than 50 percent compared to the reference period and the salinity
level is projected to exceed 4g/l.
While recent work by Ranjan et al. (2009) concludes that most
parts of South East Asia display a relatively low-to-moderate risk of
saltwater intrusion into coastal groundwater resources, this is for a
sea-level rise of only about 40 cm above 2000 by 2100, significantly
lower than this report’s projections.67 Using the approach to sea-level
rise in this report, sea-level rise under the A2 scenario (corresponding
to a warming of approximately 4°C), is about 100 cm by 2100. This
projected value for sea-level rise, as well as that for a 2°C world,
is well above the value used by Ranjan et al. (2009) and would
certainly lead to a greatly increased risk of saltwater intrusion.

Health Impacts of Saltwater Intrusion
Coastal aquifers provide more than one billion people living in
coastal areas with water resources. Saltwater intrusions already affect
these coastal aquifers in different regions of the globe (Ferguson
and Gleeson 2012). The consumption of salt-contaminated water
can have detrimental health impacts (A. E. Khan, Ireson, et al. 2011;
Vineis, Chan, and Khan 2011). The most common consequence of
excessive salt ingestion is hypertension (He and MacGregor 2007).
Along with hypertension, there is a broad range of health problems
potentially linked with increased salinity exposure through bathing, drinking. and cooking; these include miscarriage (A. E. Khan,
Ireson, et al. 2011b), skin disease, acute respiratory infection, and
diarrheal disease (Caritas Development Institute 2005).

Coastal Erosion
Many South East Asian countries, notably Vietnam, Thailand, and
the Philippines, are highly vulnerable to the effects of climatechange-induced coastal erosion. For example, about 34 percent of
the increase in erosion rates in the south Hai Thinh commune in
the Vietnamese Red River delta between 1965–95 and 12 percent
for the period 1995–2005 has been attributed to the direct effect
of sea-level rise (Duc et al. 2012).
Coastal erosion, leading to land loss, is one of the processes
associated with sea-level rise (Sorensen et al. 1980) and storm
surges. Increasing wind stress and loss of vegetation are further
factors known to enhance coastal erosion (Prasetya 2007).
The mechanisms of coastal erosion and the associated impacts
depend on the specific coastal morphology (Sorensen et al. 1980):
• Beaches: Sand transport on beaches can be affected by sealevel rise. At higher mean sea level, wind wave action and
wind-generated currents change the beach profile.
• Cliffs: Thin protecting beaches can be removed due to rising sea
levels, increasing the exposure to wave action and leading to an
undermining of the cliff face—finally resulting in cliff recession.
• Estuaries: Because estuary shorelines are typically exposed to
milder wave action and exhibit relatively flat profiles, rising
sea levels are expected to result in land losses primarily due
to inundation (rather than due to erosion).
• Reefed coasts: Reefs cause wave breaking and thus reduce
wave action on the beach. Higher mean sea levels reduce this
protecting effect and thus increase the coastline’s exposure to
wave stress, which results in increased coastal erosion (see
also Chapter 4 on “Projected Impacts on Coral Reefs” for more
on the implications of reef loss).
Sandy beach erosion can lead to increasing exposure and possible
destruction of fixed structures (e.g., settlements, infrastructures)
close to the coastline due to the direct impact of storm waves. In
general, empirical results indicate that the rate of sandy beach erosion significantly outperforms that of actual sea-level rise (Zhang et
al. 2004). However, deriving reliable projections of coastal erosion
under future sea-level rise and other climate change-related effects,
such as possible increases in wind stress and heavy rainfall, require
complex modeling approaches (Dawson et al. 2009).
66 The United States Agency for International Development (2013) report projects

the impacts of climate change for the period 2045–69 under the IPCC SRES scenario A1B (corresponding to a 2.33°C temperature increase above pre-industrial
levels) for the Lower Mekong Basin. For the study, authors used six GCMs (NCAR
CCSM 3.0; MICRO3.2 hires; GISS AOM; CNRM CM3; BCCR BCM2.0; GFDL CM2.1)
and used 1980–2005 as a baseline period.
67 This work assumed a global-mean temperature increase of about 4°C above preindustrial levels (IPCC SRES scenario A2); however, the sea-level rise component came
from the thermal expansion of the oceans only (i.e., no contribution from the melting
of glaciers and ice caps that currently contribute about half of global sea-level rise).

In the Mekong River Delta, coastal erosion is expected to increase
significantly by 2100 under a 100 cm rise (Mackay and Russell 2011).
Under the same conditions, projected beach loss for the San Fernando
Bay area of the Philippines amounts to 123,033 m², with a simultaneous land loss of 283,085 m² affecting a considerable number
of residential structures (Bayani-Arias, Dorado, and Dorado 2012).
The projected loss of mangrove forests due to sea-level rise68 and
human activities (which are known to increase coastal erosion) is
also a significant concern and is likely to accelerate coastal erosion.
The presence of the mangrove forests is known to provide coastal
protection: for the coastline of southern Thailand, studies report an
estimated 30-percent reduction in coastal erosion in the presence of
dense mangrove stands (Vermaat and Thampanya 2006).

be lost for agricultural purposes due to salinity intrusion. Without
implementing adaptation measures, rice production could decline
by approximately 2.6 million tons per year, assuming 2010 rice
productivity. This would represent a direct economic loss in export
revenue of $1.22 billion at 2011 prices (World Bank 2010b).
Furthermore, consistent with other studies estimating the
impacts of climate change on crop yields in South East Asia
(MoNRE 2010; Wassmann, Jagadish, Sumfleth, et al. 2009; World
Bank 2010b), the United States Agency for International Development (2013)69 projects a decrease in crop yields and, more specifically, in rice yields. The World Bank (2010b) estimates rice yield

Impacts on Agricultural and Aquaculture
Production in Deltaic and Coastal Regions

Figure 4.9: Low elevation areas in the Vietnamese deltas

Agriculture and aquaculture are the two main components of rural
livelihoods in the South East Asian rivers deltas and coastal areas.
Salinity intrusion and coastal erosion, along with the increased
frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, sea-level rise
and coastal flooding, and increased air and water temperature are
projected to severely impact rural economic activities.

Agriculture
Agricultural production in deltaic regions is largely based on rice,
a crop that is relatively resilient to unstable water levels and salinity. Nevertheless, rising sea levels and increasing tropical cyclone
intensity leading to increasing salinity intrusion and inundation
pose major risks to rice production in deltaic regions (Wassmann,
Jagadish, Heuer, Ismail, and Sumfleth 2009). Impacts are known
to vary according to a number of factors, such as cultivar and
duration and depth of flooding (Jackson and Ram 2003). While
some cultivars are more resilient than others, there is evidence
that all rice is vulnerable to sudden and total inundation when
flooding is sustained for several days. The effect can be fatal,
especially when the plants are small (Jackson and Ram 2003).
Temperature increases beyond thresholds during critical growing
seasons may further impact productivity (Wassmann, Jagadish,
Heuer, Ismail, and Sumfleth 2009). Rice production in the Mekong
Delta is particularly exposed to sea-level rise due to its low elevation (see Figure 4.9).
The World Bank Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change
estimated the impact of a 30 cm sea-level rise by 2050 in the
Mekong River Delta. The projections undertaken for the present report find that this level of sea-level rise may be reached
as early as the 2030s. Such sea-level rise is found to result in a
loss of 193,000 hectares of rice paddies (about 4.7 percent of the
province) due to inundation. A larger area of 294,000 hectares
(about 7.2 percent of the Mekong River Delta province) might also
80

Source: Wassmann et al. (2009).
Reprinted from Advances in Agronomy, 102, Wassmann et al., Regional
vulnerability of climate change impacts on Asian rice production and scope for
adaptation, 91-133, Copyright (2009), with permission from Elsevier. Further
permission required for reuse.
68 See Chapter 4 on “Coastal Wetlands.”
69 The United States Agency for International Development (2013) projects the

impacts of climate change for the period 2045–69 under the IPCC SRES scenario
A1B (corresponding to a 2.33°C temperature increase above pre-industrial levels)
for the Lower Mekong Basin. For the study, the authors used six GCMs (NCAR
CCSM 3.0; MICRO3.2 hires; GISS AOM; CNRM CM3; BCCR BCM2.0; GFDL CM2.1)
and used 1980–2005 as a baseline period.

S outh E ast A sia : C oastal Z ones and P roductivit y at R isk

declines from 6–12 percent in the Mekong River Delta. Other crops
may experience decreases ranging from 3–26 percent by 2050 in
a wet and dry scenario under the SRES scenario A1B.
In light of the importance of deltaic regions for rice production, impacts such as those outlined above pose a major risk to
affected populations and the region’s economy.

Aquaculture
Aquaculture in South East Asia plays a significant role in the
region’s economic and human development, and both the
population and the national economies rely considerably on sea
products and services. In Vietnam, for example, aquaculture
output constitutes a growing share of the gross domestic product
(GDP). Between 1996 and 2011, aquaculture output was multiplied by 24 and its share of GDP increased from 2.6 percent to
about 4.8 percent. In addition, since 2001, aquaculture production
has yielded higher output than capture fisheries (General Statistics
Office of Vietnam 2012). Similar trends can be observed in the
other South East Asian countries (Delgado, Wada, Rosegrant,
Meijer, and Ahmed 2003). Fisheries and aquaculture also supply the region and populations with affordable seafood and fish,
which constitute an average of 36 percent of dietary animal protein
consumed in South East Asia (Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations 2010).
Sea-level rise, intense extreme weather events, associated
saltwater intrusion, and warmer air temperatures may impact
aquaculture—especially when it takes place in brackish water
and deltaic regions (Box 4.2). The extent of the impact, however,
remains uncertain (Silva and Soto 2009).
Heat waves and associated warmer water temperatures may
affect aquaculture in South East Asia. The two most cultured species

Box 4.2: The Threat of Typhoons to
Aquaculture
Extreme weather events, such as tropical cyclones and coastal
floods, already affect aquaculture activities in South East
Asia. For example, the category 4 typhoon Xangsane devastated 1,278 hectares of aquaculture area in Vietnam in 2006
(International Federation Of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies 2006). Similarly, in Indonesia, typhoons Vicente (category 4) and Saola (category 2) jointly generated $9.26 million
in damages to the fishery sector and affected about 3,000 aquaculture farmers (Xinhua 2012). The impacts on aquaculture
farming include the physical destruction of facilities, the spread of
diseases, and the loss of fish stock (Silva and Soto, 2009). More
intense storms are expected to diminish the life span of aquaculture equipment and infrastructure and increase the maintenance
costs of the installations (Kam, Badjeck, Teh, Teh, and Tran 2012).

in the region, brackish water tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) and
freshwater striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus), have
very similar temperature tolerance ranges around 28–30°C (Hargreaves and Tucker 2003; Pushparajan and Soundarapandian 2010).
More frequent temperatures above the tolerance range would
create non-optimum conditions for these species and would be
expected to decrease aquaculture yields.
As a consequence of salinity intrusion, freshwater and brackish aquaculture farms may have to relocate further upstream. To
respond to this new salinity pattern, local farmers may further
have to breed more saline-tolerant species. Upstream relocation and farming more saline-tolerant species are expected to
be economically costly. Implementing these measures and their
associated costs would most certainly affect the socioeconomic
status of aquaculture-dependant households. Neither the cost of
adapting aquaculture farming practices to the consequences of
salinity intrusion nor the direct economic losses for aquaculturedependent livelihoods has yet been evaluated (Silva and Soto 2009).
Another study70 (United States Agency for International
Development 2013) finds that four climate stressors are projected
to significantly affect aquaculture production: increased temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns, increased storm intensities, and
higher sea levels. According to the study’s projections, intensive
aquaculture practices are expected to experience a decrease in
yields due to the combination of these four climate stressors.
Semi-intensive and extensive systems may only be vulnerable
to extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and tropical
cyclones. The authors do not, however, provide aquaculture yield
decrease estimates due to climate stressors.
Two recent studies estimated the cost of adapting shrimp
and catfish aquaculture to climate change in the Mekong river
delta. Estimates range from $130 million per year for the period 2010–5071 (World Bank 2010b) to $190.7 million per year for
the period 2010–20 (Kam et al. 2012). These valuations may,
however, be underestimated. Kam et al. (2012) only took into
account the costs of upgrades to dykes and water pumping. As
explained earlier in this chapter, other climate-change-associated
consequences may affect the final calculation of the adaptation
costs in the aquaculture sector. First, the existing studies do not
account for the costs of relocating aquaculture farms upstream of

70 The United States Agency for International Development (2013) report projects

the impacts of climate change for the period 2045–69 under the IPCC SRES scenario
A1B (corresponding to a 2.33°C temperature increase above pre-industrial level)
for the Lower Mekong Basin. For the study, the authors used six GCMs (NCAR
CCSM 3.0; MICRO3.2 hires; GISS AOM; CNRM CM3; BCCR BCM2.0; GFDL CM2.1)
and used 1980–2005 as a baseline period.
71 For the World Bank study, projections were calculated from a set of 21 global
models in the multimodel ensemble approach, from 1980–99 and 2080–99 under the
IPCC A1B scenario, corresponding to a 2.8°C temperature increase globally (3.3°C
above pre-industrial levels).

rivers, despite the fact that most aquaculture activities take place
in low-lying areas below one meter of elevation above sea level
(Carew-Reid 2008). Second, warmer air temperatures may force
aquaculture farmers to dig deeper ponds in order to keep water
pond temperatures in the tolerance range of the species being
cultured (Silva and Soto 2009). Finally, the costs of coping with
the consequences of tropical cyclones on aquaculture activities
have not been taken into account. Since the intensity of tropical
cyclones is expected to increase, so are the associated damages
and losses (Mendelsohn et al. 2012).

Risks to Coastal Cities
South East Asian coastal cities are projected to be affected by several climate change stressors, including increased tropical cyclone
intensity, sea-level rise, and coastal flooding (Brecht, Dasgupta,
Laplante, Murray, and Wheeler 2012; Dutta 2011; Hanson et al.
2011; Muto, Morishita, and Syson 2010; Storch and Downes 2011).
The consequences of these stressors are likely to be exacerbated by
human-induced subsidence in low-lying, deltaic regions (Brecht et
al. 2012a; Hanson et al. 2011). South East Asian cities have already
been exposed to the consequences of coastal flooding, and significant
economic losses have occurred due to flooding-induced damage
to public and private infrastructure. Increasingly intense rainfall
events that exacerbate river flooding (Kron 2012) and heat waves
(World Bank 2011a) may also have a negative impact on coastal
cities (see also Chapter 4 on “Regional Patterns of Climate Change”).

Vulnerability Context
South East Asia currently experiences high rates of urban population growth, which are led by two converging drivers: a rural
exodus and demographic growth (Tran et al. 2012). By 2025, the
population of South East Asian cities is projected to be significantly

higher than at present. Ho Chi Minh City, for example, is expected
to have a population of approximately 9 million people (compared
to close to 6 million in 2010); 8.4 million people are projected to
be living in Bangkok (compared to 7 million in 2010) and 14 million in Manila (compared to 11.6 million in 2010) (UN Population
Prospects 2009).
As a result, increasingly large populations and significant
assets are projected to be exposed to sea-level rise and other
climate change impacts in low-lying coastal areas. The effect of
heat extremes are particularly pronounced in urban areas due to
the urban heat island effect, caused in large part by the density
of buildings and the size of cities. This results in higher human
mortality and morbidity rates in cities than in the rural surroundings (Gabriel and Endlicher 2011). High levels of urban population
growth and GDP further increase exposure to climate change
impacts in coastal urban areas.
Most of the national economic production of the region is
also concentrated in South East Asia’s cities. It has been estimated, for example, that Ho Chi Minh City in 2008 accounted for
approximately 26 percent ($58 billion) and Hanoi for 19 percent
($42 billion) of Vietnam’s $222 billion GDP (based on Purchasing
Power Parity). Metro Manila’s GDP, at 49 percent ($149 billion),
represented a significant share of that country’s $305 billion GDP
(PricewaterhouseCoopers 2009; World Bank 2013a). In addition, it is
estimated that, by 2025, Metro Manila’s GDP will be approximately
$325 billion, Hanoi’s GDP will be $134 billion, and Ho Chi Minh
City’s GDP will be $181 billion (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2009). In
other words, the GDP values in these coastal cities are expected to
double or even quadruple from the present day. Table 4.3 presents
the population and GDP growth trends in these and other South
East Asian cities.
Urban density is a further factor that may influence a city´s
vulnerability to climate-driven impacts (World Bank 2011a).
Figure 4.10 shows different types of cities in terms of population
and density. Cities like Jakarta and Manila clearly stand out in

terms of population size; however, the density of Jakarta, for
example, is lower than that of smaller cities like Yangon and
Zamboanga. In cities where adequate infrastructure and institutional capacity are lacking to support large urban populations,
density can increase the vulnerability to climate-driven impacts
by exposing larger numbers of people and assets in a given area
of land (Dodman 2009).

Informal Settlements
High urban growth rates, combined with inadequate responses to
the housing needs of urban populations in the region, are leading
to the expansion of informal settlements. For example, 79 percent
of the urban population in Cambodia, 41 percent in Vietnam,
and 44 percent in the Philippines lived in informal settlements
in 2005 (UN-HABITAT 2013).
Informal settlements are characterized by a lack of water, a
lack of sanitation, overcrowding, and nondurable housing structures (UN-HABITAT 2007). Durable housing, in contrast, has
been defined as “a unit that is built on a non-hazardous location
and has a structure permanent and adequate enough to protect
its inhabitants from the extreme of climate conditions, such as
rain, heat, cold, and humidity” (UN-HABITAT 2007). In informal
settlements, populations are chronically exposed to health risks
from perinatal complications to diarrheal diseases to physical
injuries (C. McMichael et al. 2012). If the number of people living
in informal settlements continues to grow, the number of people
vulnerable to these threats will grow too (Box 4.3).
Water in South East Asia is a major vector for diseases such
as diarrhea and cholera. Improved water sources and sanitation
facilities contribute to keep water-borne diseases at bay. Despite
significant improvements in South East Asian cities, large proportions of the region’s urban populations (27 percent in Indonesia and
nine percent in Vietnam) still lack access to improved sanitation

Figure 4.10: Population size against density distribution. The
population axis refers to population in millions; the density axis
to population in thousands/km2
Population

28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Jakarta
Manila

Ho Chi Minh
Bankok
Surabaya , (Ind.)
Kuala Lumpur
Hanoi

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8
Density

Source: Demographia 2009.

Singapore
Bandung

9

Yangon
Zamboanga (Phil.)

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Box 4.3: Freshwater Infrastructure
Cyclones can damage infrastructure, such as water treatment
plants, pump houses, and pipes. Natural disasters reportedly contribute to the shortening of infrastructure and system
life spans from 15–20 years to 3–4 years (SNV 2010). Recent
tropical cyclones in the Philippines highlight the vulnerability of
the country’s freshwater infrastructure and systems to climate
change. In the aftermath of category 2 cyclone Ondoy in 2009,
over 100,000 households were left without piped-in water
as 92 percent of the water supply capacity was suspended in
Central Luzon province. In combination with damage incurred by
cyclone Pepeng, Ondoy generated $24.3 million in damages to
the water and sanitation sector in the Philippines (GFDRR 2009).

facilities. In addition, eight percent of the urban population in
Indonesia and one percent in Vietnam do not have access to
clean water sources (World Bank 2013c). Lack of access to these
resources contributes to the vulnerability of South East Asian
cities to climate-change-induced impacts and associated health
complications. Table 4.4 summarizes the key vulnerabilities of the
South East Asian countries studied in this report.

Projected Impacts on Coastal Cities
Projected Exposed Populations
Applying the Dynamic Interactive Vulnerability Assessment model,
Hanson et al. (2011) project impacts of sea-level rise, taking into
account natural subsidence (uplift), human-induced subsidence,
and population and economic growth. They assume a homogenous sea-level rise of 50 cm above current levels by 2070 and
a uniform decline in land level of 50 cm from 2005–70 to reflect
human-induced subsidence. Note that the projections produced
in this report give a global mean sea-level rise of 50 cm likely as
early as the 2060s in a 4°C world (greater than 66-percent probability) and by the 2070s in a 2°C world. There is also a 10-percent chance of this level of rise occurring globally by the 2050s
(above 2000 sea levels).
For tropical storms, Hanson et al. (2011) assume a 10 percent
increase in high water levels with no expansion in affected areas;
this may actually underestimate future exposure. They also estimate
population in the cities in the 2070s according to three factors:
projected regional population, the change in urbanization rate,
and specific properties of each city. Population data are based on
the United Nations’ World Urbanization Prospects (2005). Urban
population projections for 2070 are extrapolated from the 2005–
30 trends in urbanization and assume that urbanization rates
saturate at 90 percent. Depending on the national context, this may
over- or underestimate future population exposure in urban areas.
83

The authors find that 3.9 million people in South East Asian
cities were exposed to coastal flooding in 2005 caused by storm
surges and sea-level rise. Based on these assumptions, they estimate that 28 million people are projected to be exposed to 50 cm
sea-level rise, taking into account human-induced subsidence and
increased storminess in the 2070s.
Jakarta, Yangon, Manila, Bangkok, and Ho Chi Minh City are
projected to be among the cities in South East Asia most affected
by sea-level rise and increased storm surges. Table 4.5 shows the
number of people projected to be exposed to the impacts of sealevel rise, increased storminess, and human-induced subsidence
for five cities in the region.
Brecht et al. (2012) examine the consequences for a 100 cm
sea-level rise in the same region, making the assumption that the
urbanization rate will remain constant between 2005 and 2100.
Based on this fixed urbanization rate, which may significantly
underestimate future population exposure, they find slightly lower
numbers of affected people for a 100 cm sea-level rise scenario,
increased tropical storm intensity, and human-induced subsidence. For 2100, the authors calculate the increased tropical storm
intensity by multiplying projected sea-level rise by 10 percent.
Their results are shown in Table 4.6.
Brecht et al. (2012) and Hanson et al. (2011) apply contrasting
assumptions, therefore comparing the change in affected population
in the different levels of sea-level rise (50 cm and 100 cm) is difficult.
The estimates do, however, offer relevant indications concerning

the order of magnitude of people projected to be exposed in coastal
cities by these sea-level rises. Overall, the studies give a potential
range of the total projected population exposed to sea-level rise and
increased storminess in South East Asian of 5–22 million during
the second half of the 21st century.

Projected Exposed Assets
Hanson et al. (2011) also estimate the current and projected asset
exposure for South East Asian coastal cities. Their study is based

Table 4.5: Current and projected population exposed to 50 cm sea-level rise, land subsidence and increased storm intensity
in 2070 in Jakarta, Yangon, Manila, Bangkok, and Ho Chi Minh City
Key South East Asian
Agglomerations

Population (2005, in millions)

Projected Exposed Population
(2070, in millions)

Local Sea Level Rise Projections in a 4°C
World in 2070 (above 1986–2005)

on the physical (i.e., sea level, storms, and subsidence) and
demographic assumptions discussed in Chapter 4 under “Projected
Impacts on Economic and Human Development.”. To evaluate
asset exposure, they estimate cities’ future GDP by assuming that
urban GDP grows at the same rate as the respective national or
regional GDP per capita trends throughout the period 2005–75. The
projected exposed population is transposed into exposed assets
by multiplying each country’s GDP per capita by five (projected
exposed asset = projected exposed population * estimated GDP
per capita * 5). According to Hanson et al. (2011), this methodology is widely used in the insurance industry.
The projected asset exposure for South East Asia in 2070 rises
significantly due to the increased impacts of rising sea levels, moreintense tropical storms, and fast economic growth. Based on the
assumptions and calculations, the authors project that coastal cities’
asset exposure will rises by 2,100–4,600 percent between 2005–70.
Table 4.7 summarizes the current and projected exposed assets.
The figures presented in this table should be interpreted with
care as the asset exposure projections in the study by Hanson et
al. are based on population exposure projections that assume a
steady urbanization rate (saturating at 90 percent of the country population). As a consequence, projected asset exposure is
extremely high. The table only displays an order of magnitude of
the impacts of a 50-cm sea-level rise, increased storminess, and
human-induced subsidence on exposed assets in coastal cities in
South East Asia in 2070 if no adaptation measures are carried out.

Projected Impacts on Individual Cities
The current understanding of the impacts of sea-level rise on
specific coastal cities in South East Asia is rather limited. Despite
global studies for port and coastal cities (e.g., Brecht et al. 2012;
Hanson et al. 2011), studies conducted at the city level on the
impacts of sea-level rise and increased storm intensity are scarce.
However, projections accounting for sea-level rise, increased

Table 4.7: Current and projected asset exposure to sea-level
rise for South East Asian coastal agglomerations

cyclone intensity, and human-induced subsidence are available
for Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, and Bangkok.

Ho Chi Minh City
Storch and Downes (2011) quantify current and future citywide flood
risks to Ho Chi Minh City by taking into account urban development (population and asset growth) and sea-level rise scenarios.
Due to the lack of data available on land subsidence for the city,
however, their assessment does not include subsidence. They use
two possible amplitudes of change for sea-level rise in the study:
50 cm and 100 cm. Combined with the current tidal maximum
of 150 cm, they quantify built-up land exposed to water levels
of 150 cm, 200 cm, and 250 cm. According to the report’s projections, a 50-cm sea-level rise would be reached between 2055–65 in
the RCP8.5 scenario and between 2065–75 in the RCP2.6 scenario.
According to the draft land-use plan for 2010–25, the built-up areas
increase by 50 percent (approximately 750 km²). In these conditions,
the authors project that up to 60 percent of the built-up area will be
exposed to a 100 cm sea-level rise. In the absence of adaptation, the
planned urban development for the year 2025 further increases Ho
Chi Minh City’s exposure to sea-level rise by 17 percentage points.

Bangkok
Dutta (2011) assesses the socioeconomic impacts of floods due to
sea-level rise in Bangkok. He uses a model combining surface and
river flows to simulate different magnitudes of sea-level rise and
uses 1980 as the baseline year. The study takes into account two
different sea-level rise scenarios: 32 cm in 2050 and 88 cm in 2100.
For the projections of future population and urbanization, the author
uses the IPCC SRES B1 scenario. For this simulation, the maximum
population density is 20,000 people per square kilometer (compared
to 16,000 in Manila, the highest urban population density in 2009),
effectively leading to an expansion of the total area. Based on this
simulation of flood and population, Dutta projects that 43 percent
of the Bangkok area will be flooded in 2025, and 69 percent in 2100.
The results are displayed in Table 4.8.
According to this simulation, the population is expected to
be increasingly affected as the sea level rises. Dutta (2011) projects that, if no adaptation is carried out, 5.7 million people
in 2025 and 8.9 million people in 2100 are going to be affected
by inundations in Bangkok when the sea level reaches 88 cm.
According to the report’s projections, a sea-level rise of 88 cm in
Bangkok may be reached between 2085 and 2095 in a 4°C world.
In a 2°C world, sea-level rise of around 75 cm by the end of the 21st
century would likely limit the percentage of total area of Bangkok
exposed to inundations between 57–69 percent.

Table 4.8: Total flood inundation area in Bangkok for sea-level
rise projections from 14cm to 88cm from 2025 to 2100
Year

2025

2050

2075

2100

14

32

58

88

Total flood inundation area (km )

1429

1611

1917

2311

Percentage of total Bangkok area

43%

48%

57%

69%

Sea-level rise projection (cm)
2

Source: Adapted from Dutta (2011).

in 2050 under the IPCC SRES scenarios B1 (1.6°C above pre-industrial levels) and A1F1 (2.2°C above pre-industrial levels). According to the study, these scenarios correspond to 19 cm and 29 cm
increases in sea-level elevation and 9.4 percent and 14.4 percent
increases in rainfall precipitations (in scenarios B1 and A1F1,
respectively). The storm surge height as a consequence of the
increased tropical storm intensity is projected to rise by 100 cm in
both scenarios. In the A1F1 scenario, the authors find that a 100year return-period flood is projected to generate damages of up
to 24 percent of Manila’s total GDP by 2050 and a 30-year returnperiod flood would generate damages of approximately 15 percent
of GDP. The authors find, however, that projected damages would
be only nine percent of the GDP for a 100-year return-period flood
and three percent for a 30-year return-period flood if infrastructures
improvements based on the Master Plan designed in 1990 are
properly implemented.

Coastal and Marine Ecosystems
Livelihoods in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in South East
Asia, are often highly dependent on the ecosystem services provided
by ocean and coastal environments. The associated ecosystem
goods and services include food, building materials, medicine,
tourism revenues, and coastal protection through reduced wave
energy (Hoegh-Guldberg 2013; Villanoy et al. 2012). The fisheries supported by coral reefs, for example, are often vital to the
livelihoods and diets of populations along reef coastlines (Ove
Hoegh-Guldberg 1999; Cinner et al. 2012). Marine ecosystems are
increasingly at risk from the impacts of climate change, including
ocean acidification (Meissner, Lippmann, and Sen Gupta 2012),
sea-surface water warming (Lough 2012), and rising sea levels
(Gilman, Ellison, Duke, and Field 2008).

Coastal Wetlands
Coastal wetlands, including mangrove forests, provide important
ecological services for the region. Mangroves contribute to human
wellbeing through a range of activities, including provisioning
86

(timber, fuel wood, and charcoal), regulating (flood, storm, and
erosion control and the prevention of saltwater intrusion), habitat
(breeding, spawning, and nursery habitats for commercial fish species and biodiversity), and cultural services (recreation, aesthetic,
non-use). The mean economic value of these activities in South
East Asia has been estimated at $4,185 per hectare per year as
of 2007 (L. M. Brander et al. 2012). South East Asian countries
shared mangrove forests covering an area of about six million
hectares as of 2000 (L. M. Brander et al. 2012). Indonesia (3.1 million ha), Malaysia (505,000 ha), Myanmar (495,000 ha), and the
Philippines (263,000 ha) are ranked 1, 6, 7 and 15 among countries
worldwide with mangrove forests (Giri et al. 2011). Indonesia
alone accounts for 22.6 percent of the total global mangrove area.
Worldwide, mangrove forests are under significant pressure due
to such human activities as aquaculture, harvesting, freshwater
diversion, land reclamation, agriculture, and coastal development.
These factors were responsible for at least 35 percent of the global
mangrove loss between 1980 and 2000, particularly in South East
Asia (Valiela, Bowen, and York 2001). Rapid sea-level rise poses
additional risks (Mcleod, Hinkel, et al. 2010).
The vulnerability and response of mangrove forests to sealevel rise is connected to various surface and subsurface processes
influencing the elevation of the mangroves’ sediment surface (Gilman et al. 2008). In the long term, mangroves can react to rising
mean sea level by landward migration. This option is limited in
many locations, however, by geographic conditions (e.g., steep
coastal inclines) and human activities (Ove Hoegh-Guldberg and
Bruno 2010). Erosion of the seaward margin associated with sealevel rise and a possible increase of secondary productivity due to
the greater availability of nutrients as a result of erosion further
threaten mangrove forests (Alongi 2008).
Large losses are projected for countries in the region for a sealevel rise of 100 cm, which is this report’s best estimate in a 4°C
world warming scenario regionally by the 2080s (and globally by
the 2090s). Sea-level rise is expected to play a significant role in the
decline of coastal wetland, low unvegetated wetlands, mangroves,
coastal forests, and salt marshes with a 100 cm sea-level rise (Mcleod,
Hinkel, et al. 2010).72 The study was conducted using the DIVA
model for the six countries of the “Coral Triangle,” which includes
provinces in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Timor-Leste, Papua
New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. In a 4°C world, total coastal
wetland area is projected to decrease from 109,000 km² to 76,000 km²
(about 30 percent) between 2010 and 2100.
At the level of administrative units, between 12 percent
and 73 percent of coastal wetlands are projected to be lost at
a 100 cm sea-level rise by the 2080s (compared to wetland area
in 2010). Regions with a projected loss of more than 50 percent
can be found in Timor-Leste, Indonesia (Jakarta Raya, Sulawesi
72 The projections for sea-level rise are 100cm by 2100, above 1995 levels.

S outh E ast A sia : C oastal Z ones and P roductivit y at R isk

Tengah, Sulawesi Tenggara, Sumatra Barat, Yogyakarta), Malaysia
(Terengganu), and the Philippines (Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon,
Central Visayas, Ilocos, Western Visayas), as well as parts of Papua
New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. For the Philippines, a coastal
wetland loss of about 51 percent by 2100 is projected (compared
to 2010) (Mcleod, Hinkel, et al. 2010).
Blankespoor, Dasgupta, and Laplante (2012) apply the DIVA
model to assess the economic implications of a 100 cm sea-level rise
on coastal wetlands and estimate that the East Asia Pacific region
may suffer the biggest loss in economic value from the impacts
of such a rise. They find that the region could lose approximately
$296.1–368.3 million per year in economic value (2000 U.S. dollars). Vietnam is also expected to lose 8,533 square kilometers
of freshwater marsh (a 65-percent loss), and the Philippines is
expected to lose 229 square kilometers of great lakes and wetlands
by 2100 (or almost 100 percent of the current surface).

Projected Impacts on Coral Reefs
Coral reefs in South East Asia, which play a pivotal role in coastal
rural livelihoods by providing affordable food and protection
against waves, are exposed to ocean acidification and warming
temperature as well as to increased human activities such as pollution and overfishing.

Coral Reefs in South East Asia
The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report found that coral reefs are vulnerable to increased sea-surface temperature and, as a result, to
thermal stress. Increases of 1–3°C in sea-surface temperature are
projected to result in more frequent bleaching events and widespread coral mortality unless thermal adaptation or acclimatization
occurs. The scientific literature published since 2007, when the
AR4 was completed, gives a clearer picture of these risks and also
raises substantial concerns about the effects of ocean acidification
on coral reef growth and viability.
Globally, coral reefs occupy about 10 percent of the tropical
oceans and tend to occur in the warmer (+1.8°C) parts of lower
sea-surface temperature variability in regions where sea-surface
temperatures are within a 3.3°C range 80 percent of the time; this
compares to temperatures of non-reef areas, which remain within
a 7.0°C range for 80 percent of the time (Lough 2012). Coral reefs
flourish in relatively alkaline waters. In the Asia-Pacific region,
coral reefs occur between 25°N and 25°S in warm, light-penetrated
waters (O. Hoegh-Guldberg 2013).
At the global level, healthy coral reef ecosystems provide habitat
for over one million species (O. Hoegh-Guldberg 2013) and flourish
in waters that would otherwise be unproductive due to low nutrient availability (Ove Hoegh-Guldberg 1999). The loss of coral reef
communities is thus likely to result in diminished species richness,
species extinctions, and the loss of species that are key to local

ecosystems (N. A. J. Graham et al. 2006; K. M. Brander 2007). The
IPCC AR4 found with high confidence that climate change is likely
to adversely affect corals reefs, fisheries, and other marine-based
resources. Research published since 2007 has strongly reinforced
this message. This section examines projected changes and impacts
due to climate change in the South East Asian region.
One of the highest concentrations of marine species globally occurs in the Coral Triangle. Coral reefs in South East Asia73
have been estimated to cover 95,790 km²; within this region, reef
estimates for the Philippines are approximately 26,000 km² and,
for Vietnam, 1,100 km74 (Nañola, Aliño, and Carpenter 2011).
In addition to the climate-change-related risks posed to reefs,
including ocean acidification and the increasing frequency and
duration of ocean temperature anomalies, reefs are also at risk
from such human activities as destructive fishing methods and
coastal development resulting in increasing sediment outflow onto
reefs (L. Burke, Selig, and Spalding 2002).

Projected Degradation and Loss due to Ocean
Acidification and Increasing Temperature
Vulnerability to Ocean Acidification
Coral reefs have been found to be vulnerable to ocean acidification
as a consequence of increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
Critically, the reaction of CO2 with seawater reduces the availability
of carbonate ions that are used by various marine biota for skeleton
and shell formation in the form of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Surface
waters are typically supersaturated with aragonite (a mineral form of
CaCO3), favoring the formation of shells and skeletons. If saturation
levels of aragonite are below a value of 1.0, the water is corrosive to
pure aragonite and unprotected aragonite shells (R. a Feely, Sabine,
Hernandez-Ayon, Ianson, and Hales 2008). Due to anthropogenic
CO2 emissions, the levels at which waters become undersaturated
with respect to aragonite have been observed to have shoaled when
compared to pre-industrial levels (R. A. Feely et al. 2004).
Mumby et al. (2011) identify three critical thresholds which
coral reefs may be at risk of crossing as atmospheric CO2 concentrations increase: first, the degradation threshold, beyond which an
ecosystem begins to degrade (for example, above 350 ppm, coral
bleaching has been observed to begin occurring); second, thresholds of ecosystem state and process, which determine whether an
ecosystem will exhibit natural recovery or will shift into a more
damaged state; and, finally, the physiological threshold, whereby
essential functions become severely impaired. These thresholds
involve different processes, would have different repercussions,

73 In the study referred to (L. Burke et al. 2002), South East Asia encompasses

are associated with different levels of uncertainty, and are understood by scientists to varying extents. Mumby et al. (2011) stress
that while all types of threshold seriously undermine the healthy
functioning of the reef ecosystem, not all of them imply collapse.
Earlier work by Veron et al. (2009) indicates that a level
of 350 ppm CO2 could be a long-term viability limit for coral reefs,
if multiple stressors such as high sea surface water temperature
events, sea-level rise, and deterioration in seawater quality are
included. This level of CO2 concentration has already been exceeded
in the last decade. Even under the lowest of the AR5 scenarios
(corresponding to a 2°C world), which reaches a peak CO2 concentration at around 450 ppm by mid-century before beginning a slow
decline, a level of 350 ppm would not be achieved again for many
centuries. At the peak CO2 concentration for the lowest scenario,
it has been estimated that global coral reef growth would slow
down considerably, with significant impacts well before 450 ppm
is reached. Impacts could include reduced growth, coral skeleton
weakening, and increased temperature sensitivity (Cao and Caldeira 2008). At 550 ppm CO2 concentration, which in a 4°C world
warming scenario would be reached by around the 2050s, it has
been projected that coral reefs will start to dissolve due to ocean
acidification (Silverman et al. 2009).

Vulnerability to Warming Waters
Since the 1980s, elevated sea-surface temperatures have been
increasingly linked with mass coral bleaching events in which
the symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) and their associated pigments
are temporarily or permanently expelled (Glynn 1984; Goreau and
Hayes 1994; Ove Hoegh-Guldberg 1999).
Coral mortality after bleaching events increases with the length
and extent to which temperatures rise above regional summer
maxima (Ove Hoegh-Guldberg 1999). Coral bleaching can be
expected when a region’s warm season maximum temperature
is exceeded by 1°C for more than four weeks; bleaching becomes
progressively worse at higher temperatures and/or longer periods
during which the regional threshold temperature is exceeded
(Goreau and Hayes 1994; Ove Hoegh-Guldberg and Bruno 2010).
It is clear from model projections that, within a few decades,
warming of tropical sea surface waters would exceed the historical
thermal range and alter the physical environment of the coral reefs.
As expected, tropical oceans have been warming at a slower
rate than globally (average of 0.08°C per decade over 1950–2011 in
the tropics, or about 70 percent of the global average rate).
The observed temperatures in the period 1981–2011 were 0.3–
0.4°C above 1950–80 levels averaged over the tropical oceans
(Lough 2012). Overall, 65 percent of the tropical oceans have
warmed significantly while 34 percent have as yet shown no
significant change. The observed absolute warming was greatest
in the northwest and northeast tropical Pacific and the southwest
tropical Atlantic. It is of substantial relevance to South East Asia
88

that, when taking into account inter-annual variability, the strongest
changes are observed in the near-equatorial Indian and western
Pacific as well as the Atlantic Ocean.
Global warming-induced in exceedance of the temperature
tolerance ranges within which coral reefs have evolved has been
projected to produce substantial damages through thermal stress to
the coral reefs. There is significant evidence that reefs at locations
with little natural temperature variability (and thus historically
few warm events) are particularly vulnerable to changes in marine
chemistry and temperatures (Carilli, Donner, and Hartmann 2012).
Environmental conditions and background climate conditions
appear to further influence the upper thermal tolerance threshold
temperature such that it varies across locations (Carilli et al. 2012).
Taking this into account, Boylan and Kleypas (2008) suggest that
for areas with low natural variability the threshold temperature
for bleaching is better described (compared to the 1°C threshold)
with the regionally based threshold twice the standard deviation
of warm season sea-surface temperature anomalies. For tropical
reef organisms, compromised physiological processes have been
observed beyond temperatures of around 30–32°C (Lough 2012).
Significant increases above the historical range of seasurface temperatures have been observed in the tropics. Lough
(2012), for example, finds that coral reef locations with historical
(1950–80) ranges of 27–28°C and 28–29°C experienced a shift in
the 1981–2011 period toward a range of 29–30°C. The percentage of
months within the upper (29–30°C) range increased significantly,
up 3.1 percentage points per decade over the period 1950–2011.
There was also a significant 0.4 percentage point per decade change
in the number of months within the 31–32°C range, indicating
that this estimated upper thermal tolerance threshold for tropical
coral reefs could be exceeded if this trend continues.
For projections of the risks of global warming on coral reef
bleaching, it is now standard to use indicators of thermal exposure;
these include degree heating weeks (DHW) and degree heating
months (DHM), which are defined as the product of exposure
intensity (degrees Celsius above threshold) and duration (in weeks
or months) (Meissner et al. 2012). Bleaching begins to occur when
the cumulative DHW exceeds 4°C-weeks (1 month within a 12-week
period) and severe when the DHW exceeds 8°C-weeks (or 2 months).

Combined Impacts of Ocean Acidification and Increasing
Temperature
Meissner et al. (2012) project that a combination of reduced aragonite saturation levels (associated with the process of ocean acidification) and increasing sea-surface temperatures will expose reefs
to more severe thermal stress, resulting in bleaching. Projections
for a 2°C world show some recovery of both aragonite saturation
and sea surface temperatures within the next 400 years. For this
scenario, anomalies of mean tropical sea surface temperature do
not exceed 1.9°C and zonal mean aragonite saturation remains

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above 3 between 30°N and 30°S. It should be noted that present-day
open ocean aragonite saturation levels are between 3.28 and 4.06,
and no coral reefs are found in environments with levels below 3.
In a 3°C world and in a 4°C world, no recovery of either temperature or aragonite saturation occurs within the next 400 years.
Furthermore, the zonal mean aragonite saturation at all latitudes
falls below 3.3 as early as 2050 in a 3°C world. In a 4°C world,
this level is reached as early as 2040; it reaches 3 by the 2050s, and
continues a steady decline thereafter. In both a 3°C world and a 4°C
world, open ocean surface seawater aragonite is projected to drop
below thresholds by the end of the century (Meissner et al. 2012).
By the 2030s (approximately 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels), 66 percent of coral reef areas are projected to be thermally
marginal, with CO2 concentrations around 420 ppm. In the same
timeframe in a 4°C warming scenario (about 1.5°C warming),
about 85 percent of coral reef areas are projected to be thermally
marginal for a CO2 concentration of around 450 ppm by the 2030s
(Meissner et al. 2012).

By the 2050s, with global mean warming of around 1.5°C under a
low emissions (2°C warming by 2100) scenario and about 2°C under
a high emissions (4°C warming by 2100) scenario, 98–100 percent of
coral reefs are projected to be thermally marginal. In a 4°C warming
scenario, in 2100 virtually all coral reefs will have been subject to a
severe bleaching event every year (Meissner et al. 2012).
The western Pacific clearly stands out as a highly vulnerable area in all scenarios; even with 2°C warming, in 2100 there
is a 60–100 percent probability of a bleaching event happening
every year (see Figure 4.11). It is unlikely that coral reefs would
survive such a regime. Under all concentration pathways (i.e.,
ranging from 2°C to above 4°C by the end of the century), virtually every coral reef in South East Asia would experience severe
thermal stress by the year 2050 under warming levels of 1.5°C–2°C
above pre-industrial levels (Meissner et al. 2012). Furthermore,
by the 2030s, there is a 50-percent likelihood of bleaching events
under a 1.2°C warming scenario and a 70-percent likelihood under
a 1.5°C warming scenario (above pre-industrial levels).

Figure 4.11: Projected impact of climate change on coral systems in South East Asia

The analysis of Frieler et al. (2012) produces quite similar
results. By 1.5°C warming above pre-industrial levels, about 89 percent of coral reefs are projected to be experiencing severe bleaching (DHM 2 or greater); by 2°C warming, that number rises to
around 100 percent. Highly optimistic assumptions on coral reef
thermal adaptation potential would be required if even 66 percent
of coral reef areas were to be preserved under a 2°C warming
scenario; only 10 percent would be preserved without such optimistic interpretations (Frieler et al. 2012), which seems the more
likely assumption. Indeed, a recent statistical meta-analysis of
over 200 papers published so far on the effects of acidification on
marine organisms suggests that increased temperatures enhance
the sensitivity of marine species to acidification. This study further
strengthens the evidence that acidification negatively impacts the
abundance, survival, growth, and development of many calcifying marine organisms with corals, calcifying algae, and molluscs
(e.g. shell fish) the most severely impacted (Kroeker et al. 2013).
At finer spatial resolution, and taking further stresses such
as coastal pollution and overexploitation into account, Mcleod,
Moffitt, et al. (2010) identify the eastern Philippines as the most
threatened coral reef area of the Coral Triangle.

Human and Development Implications of Coral Reef
Loss and Degradation
Implications for Coastal Protection
Coral reefs play a vital role in coastal protection. This is particularly
so in the Philippines. Located in the typhoon belt and consisting of
an archipelagic structure, the Philippines is naturally vulnerable to
the impacts of projected sea-level rise and the synergistic effects of
high-energy waves associated with typhoons (Villanoy et al. 2012).
Villanoy et al. (2012) simulate the role of reefs on coastal wave
energy dissipation under sea-level rise (0.3 m and 1 m) and under
storm events at two sites in the Philippines facing the Pacific Ocean.
Employing a model to simulate wave propagation and prescribing
a mean depth of 2 m for the reef, they show that for a sea-level rise
scenario where wave height is increased by 1–200 cm, coral reefs
continue to afford protection by dissipating wave energy (which
reduces wave run-up on land). Under simulated sea-level rise and
wave heights of 400 cm, however, the wave dissipating effects of
the reefs, while still measurable, are significantly decreased. This
shows that efficiency of coastal protection by coral reefs depends
on the degree of sea-level rise.
It should be noted, however, that Villanoy et al. (2012) assume
a healthy reef with 50–80 percent coral cover and suggest that
some corals might grow fast enough to keep pace with projected
sea-level rise. While they note that the fast-growing species might
be more susceptible to coral bleaching due to warmer waters,
they take neither this nor the impacts of ocean acidification into
account. Thus, their assessment of the effectiveness of coral reefs
90

for coastal protection may be too optimistic, as oceanic conditions
in a 4°C world (which would roughly correspond to a 100 cm sealevel rise) are not considered here. Projections by Meissner et al.
(2012) show that even under lower warming scenarios, all coral
reefs in South East Asia as early as 2050 will have experienced
severe bleaching events every year.
This site-specific modeling study does, however, confirm the
importance of coral reefs for protection against wave run-up on
land. Thus, natural protection against the impacts of sea-level rise
due to climate change would itself be degraded due to the effects
of climate change.

Implications for Fishing Communities and the Economic
Consequences
Coral reefs are pivotal for the socioeconomic welfare of about 500 million people globally (Wilkinson 2008). South East Asia alone
has 138 million people living on the coast and within 30 km of a
coral reef (L. Burke, Reytar, Spalding, and Perry 2011)—defined as
reef-associated populations. Coral reefs fisheries are mostly suitable
for small-scale fishing activities, thanks to the easy accessibility of
the coral reefs and the need for only minimal investments in capital
and technology (Whittingham, Townsley, and Campbell 2003).
Vietnam and the Philippines each have between 100,000 and 1 million reef fishers (excluding aquaculture activities) (L. Burke et al.
2011). Coastal and reef-associated communities are thus likely to
suffer major social, economic, and nutritional impacts as a result
of climate change (Sumaila and Cheung 2010).
It is important to note that under future stress, reefs may not
cease to exist altogether but would become dominated by other
species. These species might not, however, be suitable for human
consumption (Ove Hoegh-Guldberg 2010). The present understanding of the mid- and long-term economic and social implications
of coral reef degradation induced by warming sea temperatures
and ocean acidification on reef fisheries is limited (S. K. Wilson
et al. 2010). N. A. J. Graham et al. (2006) likewise note the lack
of empirical data on the implications of coral bleaching for other
components of reef ecosystems, including for the longer-term
responses of species such as reef fish.
Nicholas A. J. Graham et al. (2008) and Nicholas A. J. Graham
et al. (2011) assess the impacts of climate change on coral fish
stock (Box 4.4). In these studies, climate-change-induced impacts
on coral reefs were estimated based on the consequences of
the 1998 coral bleaching event in the Indian Ocean. The authors
find a clear correlation between coral bleaching events and the
depletion of some coral fish species (the most vulnerable species
to climate disturbance are the obligate and facultative corallivores).
Climate change is, however, not the only stressor depleting reef
fish stock. The unsustainable use of resources, due primarily to
overfishing, also significantly contributes to declines in coral fish
stocks (Newton, Côté, Pilling, Jennings, and Dulvy 2007).

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Box 4.4: Fundamental Ecosystem
Change
Fish may be affected by changes to the physiological conditions
of species following coral loss and through the physical breakdown of the reef structure. For example, a severe El-Niño-related
bleaching event in the Indian Ocean in 1998 caused a phase
shift from a coral-dominated state to a rubble and algal-dominated state of low complexity, with a >90 percent total loss of live
coral cover across the inner Seychelles. This coral loss resulted
in declines in taxonomic distinctness in reef fish. Loss of physical
structure due to bleaching is identified by N. A. J. Graham, et al.
(2006) as the main driving force of changes in species richness.
This case, while not attributed to climate change in their study,
illustrates the nature of the risks to fish species.

As a consequence, species vulnerable to one threat (climate
or fishing) is unlikely to be affected by the other. According to
Nicholas A J Graham et al. (2011), this reduces the probabilities
of strong synergistic effects of fishing and climate disturbances
at the species level. Nevertheless, at the coral fish community
level, biodiversity is expected to be severely affected as species
that are less vulnerable to one stressor are prone to be affected
by the other.
Edward H. Allison et al. (2005) developed a simplified econometric model to project the consequences of climate change on
per capita fish consumption. The analysis takes into account
four different factors to estimate future fish consumption: human
population density, current fish consumption, national coral reef
area, and an arbitrary range of values for the loss of coral reef
(from 5–15 percent over the first 15 years of projections). They find
that, in any loss scenario, per capita fish consumption is expected
to decrease due to congruent factors: increased population, loss
of coral reef at the national level, and the finite amount of fish
production per unit of coral area. Expected decreases estimated by
this simplified model show that per capita coral fish availability
could drop by 25 percent in 2050 compared to 2000 levels. This
conclusion should be interpreted with care, however, since the
econometric model is extremely simplified. It does nonetheless
further highlight the negative contribution of climate and human
stressors to coral fish stocks and their availability in the future.

Primary Productivity and Pelagic Fisheries
Open ocean ecosystems provide food and income through fisheries
revenues (Hoegh-Guldberg 2013), and capture fisheries remain
essential in developing economies due to their affordability and
easy accessibility by coastal populations (Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations 2012b).

According to the FAO Fishery Country Profile,75 fishery exports
in Vietnam in 2004 amounted to $2.36 billion; 90 percent of
commercial landings came from offshore fisheries. Exports of
overall fish and fishery products in the Philippines amounted to
$525.4 million. Major exploited stocks in the Philippines include
small pelagic fish, tuna and other large pelagic fish, demersal
fish, and invertebrates. Furthermore, pelagic fisheries contribute
directly to food security. According to the FAO, small pelagic fish
are considered the main source of inexpensive animal protein for
lower-income groups in the Philippines.76
Changes in ocean chemistry and water temperature are
expected to impact fisheries off the coast by leading to decreases
in primary productivity77 and direct impacts on fish physiology,
and by changing the conditions under which species have developed—resulting in typically poleward distribution shifts. In fact,
these shifts have already been observed (Sumaila, Cheung, Lam,
Pauly, and Herrick 2011).
One effect of increasing sea-surface temperatures is enhanced
stratification of waters. This is associated with a decline in available macronutrients as waters do not mix and the mixed layer
becomes more shallow. The resulting nutrient limitation is expected
to lead to a decrease in primary productivity. Inter-comparing four
climate models, Steinacher et al. (2010) investigate the potential
impacts under approximately 4.6°C above pre-industrial levels
by 2100 globally. They find global decreases in primary productivity between 2 and 20 percent by 2100 relative to pre-industrial
levels for all four models. While the strength of the signal varies
across models, all models agree on a downward trend for the
western Pacific region.
Taking into account changes in sea-surface temperatures, primary productivity, salinity, and coastal upwelling zones, Cheung
et al. (2010) project changes in species distribution and patterns of
maximum catch potential by 2055. It should be noted that while
distribution ranges of 1066 species were assessed within this model,
changes were not calculated at the species level. Under a scenario
of 2°C warming by the 2050s, the western Pacific displays a mixed
picture. The changes range from a 50-percent decrease in maximum
catch potential around the southern Philippines, to a 16-percent
decrease in the waters of Vietnam, to a 6–16 percent increase in
the maximum catch potential around the northern Philippines. It
is important to note that the impacts of ocean hypoxia and acidification, as further consequences of climate change, are not yet
accounted for in these projections. These effects are expected to
decrease catch potentials by 20–30 percent in other regions (see

75 http://www.fao.org/fishery/countrysector/FI-CP_VN/en.
76 http://www.fao.org/fishery/countrysector/FI-CP_PH/en.
77 Primary productivity refers to photosynthetic production at the beginning of the

also Chapter 3 on “Aquatic Ecosystems”) and can be expected to
have adverse consequences for South East Asian fisheries.
Oxygen availability has been found to decline in
the 200–700 meter zone and is related to reduced water mixing
due to enhanced stratification (Stramma, Schmidtko, Levin, and
Johnson 2010). Furthermore, warming waters lead to elevated
oxygen demand across marine taxa (Stramma, Johnson, Sprintall,
and Mohrholz 2008). Hypoxia is known to negatively impact the
performance of marine organisms, leading to additional potential
impacts on fish species (Pörtner 2010). Accordingly, a later analysis
by W. W. L. Cheung, Dunne, Sarmiento, and Pauly (2011) which
built on Cheung et al. (2010) found that, for the northeast Atlantic
ocean, acidification and a reduction of oxygen content lowered the
estimated catch potentials by 20–30 percent relative to simulations
not considering these factors. No such assessments are available
yet in the literature for South East Asia. Fisheries in Papua New
Guinea are also expected to be affected by the consequences of
warmer sea temperatures increasing stratification of the upper
water column. Under the A2 scenario (corresponding to a 4.4°C
degree increase by 2100 above pre-industrial levels) and using
the IPSL-CM4, Bell et al. (2013) estimate biomass changes in the
Pacific Ocean and in Papua New Guinea. They find that skipjack tuna biomass along PNG’s coasts is expected to decrease
between 2005 and 2100. Taking only climate change into account,
they estimate that tuna biomass will decrease by about 25 percent by 2100. Fishing activities further decrease tuna biomass in
the area (by about 10 percent in 2035, 10 percent in 2050, and
about 35 percent by 2100 compared to 2000–2010 average catches
in the region).
Cheung et al. (2012) project a decrease of 14–24 percent in the
average maximum body weight of fish at the global level by 2050.
In the study, they analyze the impacts of warmer water temperatures and decreased oxygen levels on the growth and metabolic
parameters of fishes. The authors used two climate models (GFDL
ESM 2.1 and IPSL-CM4-LOOP) under the SRES scenario A2 (corresponding to a 1.8°C temperature increase by 2050 above preindustrial levels). According to their projections, the fish of the Java
Sea and the Gulf of Thailand are expected to be the most severely
affected; in these seas, average maximum body size in 2050 may
be reduced 50–100 percent compared to 2000.
On a species level, Lehodey et al. (2010) project changes in
the distribution of bigeye tuna larvae and adults. In a 4°C world,
conditions for larval spawning in the western Pacific are projected
to deteriorate due to increasing temperatures. Larval spawning
conditions in subtropical regions in turn are projected to improve.
Overall adult bigeye tuna mortality is projected to increase, leading
to a markedly negative trend in biomass by 2100.
The analysis above indicates a substantial risk to marine food
production, at least regionally for a warming of around 2°C above
pre-industrial levels and on a broader scale in a 4°C world.
92

Projected Impacts on Economic and
Human Development
Climate change impacts in South East Asia are expected to affect
economic activity and decrease the revenues and incomes associated with these activities. Similarly, human development and
primarily health may also be affected by the consequences of
climate change.

Projected Impacts on Economic
Development
In the following section, three types of economic impacts are
explored: decreased tourism revenues due to several factors (including sea-level rise), increased damages due to tropical cyclones,
and business disruptions due to extreme weather events.

Combined Risks to the Tourism Industry
The impacts of sea-level rise, increased tropical cyclone intensity,
coral bleaching and biodiversity loss can have adverse effects on the
tourism industry by damaging infrastructure. In addition, tropical
cyclones have a negative effect on tourists’ choice of destination
countries on the same scale as such deterrents as terrorist attacks
and political crises (L. W. Turner, Vu, and Witt 2012).
A growing number of tourists visit South East Asia for its
cultural richness, landscapes, beaches, and marine activities. The
contribution of tourism to employment and economic wealth is
similarly growing. About 25.5 million people in the region benefited
from direct, indirect, and induced jobs created in the travel and
tourism industry (World Travel and Tourism Council 2012a). Travel
and tourism’s total contribution to regional GDP was estimated
at $237.4 billion (or 10.9 percent) in 2011; the direct contribution
was estimated at $94.5 billion (or 4.4 percent) of regional GDP.78
In Vietnam, revenues from travel and tourism range from a
direct contribution of 5.1 percent of 2011 GDP to a total contribution
of 11.8 percent (World Travel and Tourism Council 2012b). In the
Philippines, revenues from the travel and tourism industry ranged
from 4.9 percent of 2011 GDP (direct contribution) to 19.2 percent
(total contribution) (World Travel and Tourism Council 2012c).
The South East Asian region has been identified as one of the
most vulnerable regions to the impacts of climate change on tourism.
In a global study, Perch-Nielsen (2009) found that when sea-level
rise, extreme weather events, and biodiversity losses are taken
into account, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, and
Cambodia rank among the most vulnerable tourism destinations.79

and sensitivity in a 2°C warming scenario for the period 2041–70. Adaptive capacity includes GDP per capita, the number of Internet users, regulatory quality, and

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It is projected that increased weather event intensity—especially of tropical cyclones—combined with sea-level rise will
cause severe damage in the region; this is likely to have negative impacts on beach resorts and other tourism infrastructure
(Mendelsohn et al. 2012; Neumann, Emanuel, Ravela, Ludwig,
and Verly 2012).
Coastal erosion, which can be driven or exacerbated by
sea-level rise (Bruun 1962), also poses a threat to recreational
activities and tourism—and, consequently, to associated revenues (Phillips and Jones 2006). Studies conducted in other
regions—for example, in Sri Lanka (Weerakkody 1997), Barbados
(Dharmaratne and Brathwaite 1998), and Mauritius (Ragoonaden 1997)–provide further evidence that coastal erosion can
be detrimental to tourism.
Damages to coral reefs following bleaching events have also
been found to negatively affect tourism revenue. Doshi et al.
(2012) estimate that the 2010 bleaching event off the coasts of
Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia resulted in economic losses
of $50–80 million. Similar studies in Tanzania and the Indian
Ocean have also observed that coral bleaching events have a
significant negative impact on non-market benefits derived from
coral reefs (Andersson 2007; Ngazy, Jiddawi, and Cesar 2004).
Doshi et al. (2012) further estimate that the cost of coral bleaching ranges from $85–300 per dive. On the other hand, divers’
willingness to pay to support reef quality improvements and
protection increases because of coral bleaching events (Ransom
and Mangi 2010).

Tropical Cyclone Risks
Across all basins and climate scenarios, tropical cyclone intensity is
projected to increase. Combined with economic and demographic
growth, increased TC intensity is expected to generate severe
damages to both populations and assets. However, TC frequency
is expected to decrease, potentially reducing associated damages
and losses. Risk associated with tropical cyclones is a function
of three parameters: the frequency and intensity of the hazard,
the exposure (number of people or assets), and the vulnerability.
The following section assesses the existing knowledge of tropical cyclones damages, taking into account climate and economic
development changes.

Projected Population Exposure
Peduzzi et al. (2012) show that, at the global level, mortality risks
due to tropical cyclones is influenced by tropical cyclone intensity,
the exposure to risk, levels of poverty, and governance quality. In
their study, poverty is assessed using the Human Development
Index and GDP per capita; governance is defined using the following indicators: voice and accountability, government efficiency,
political stability, control of corruption, and the rule of law. The
authors first estimate the current risks in countries based on the

average number of people killed per year and the average number
of people killed per million inhabitants. Via this approach, they
find that Myanmar is the country with the highest mortality risk
index in South East Asia80 (risk defined as medium high).
At the global level, it is estimated that 90 percent of the tropical
cyclone exposure will occur in Asia. This region is also expected to
experience the highest increase in exposure to tropical cyclones. It
is projected that annual exposure will increase by about 11 million
people in Pacific Asia (defined as Asia 2 in the study) and by 2.5 million people in Indian Ocean Asia (Asia 1) between 2010–30.

Projected Damage Costs
Due to the consistent projections of higher maximum wind speeds,
and higher rainfall precipitation (Knutson et al. 2010), it can be
expected that tropical cyclone damage will increase during the 21st
century. Direct economic damages on assets due to strong TCs could
double by 2100 compared to the no-climate-change baseline for
population and GDP growth (Mendelsohn, Emanuel, Chonabayashi,
and Bakkensen 2012).81 Mendelsohn et al. (2012) project damage
for a set of four climate models from the 1981–2000 period to
the 2081–2100 period under the IPCC A1B SRES emission scenario,
corresponding to an average 3.9°C temperature increase above
pre-industrial levels. Total damage costs are projected to increase
by a third compared to the no-climate-change baseline for population and GDP growth. The projected costs of TC damage in South
East Asia, however, are strongly dominated by Vietnam and the
Philippines, which show a large variation in both sign and size
of damage across models. Above-average increases in TC damage
as a percentage of GDP are projected for East Asia.

Tropical Cyclone Damage to Agriculture in the Philippines
Agricultural production in the Philippines is less vulnerable to
the consequences of sea-level rise than production in the Vietnamese, Thai, and Burmese deltas, as most Philippine agriculture
does not take place in coastal and low-lying areas. Nonetheless,

the GDP generated by the travel and tourism industry. Sensitivity accounts for the
share of arrivals for leisure, recreation, and holidays, the number of people affected
by meteorologically extreme events, the number of people additionally inundated
once a year for a sea-level rise of 50 cm, the length of low-lying coastal zones with
more than 10 persons/km2, and the beach length to be nourished in order to maintain important tourist resort areas. Finally, exposure involves the change in modified tourism climatic index, the change in maximum 5-day precipitation total, the
change in fraction of total precipitation due to events exceeding the 95th percentile
of climatological distribution for wet day amounts, and the required adaptation of
corals to increased thermal stress.
80 Philippines: 5; Vietnam: 5; Laos: 5; Thailand: 4.
81 The authors estimate Global World Product in 2100 assuming that least developed countries’ economies grow at 2.7 percent per annum, that emerging countries’
economies grow at 3.3 percent per annum, and that developed countries grow
at 2.7 percent per annum. For the global population projections, the authors project
a population of 9 billion people.

tropical cyclones affect rice and other agricultural production
in the Philippines—and may even more severely impact them
as a result of climate change. The Philippines is located in the
typhoon belt; on average, seven or eight tropical cyclones make
landfall each year (Yumul et al. 2011). In recent years, tropical
cyclones have generated significant damage; the agricultural
sector suffered the most losses. For example, category 5 cyclone
Bopha generated $646 million in damage to the agricultural sector in December 2012. Due to the impacts of Bopha, the Philippines Banana Growers and Exporters Association reported that
about 25 percent of the banana production was devastated and
that restoring destroyed farms would cost approximately $122 million (AON Benfield 2012). In the aftermath of category 4 cyclone
Imbudo, local farmers in the Isabela Province reported crop losses
as a proportion of annual farm household income at 64 percent
for corn, 24 percent for bananas, and 27 percent for rice (Huigen
and Jens 2006). At the country level, PHP 1.2 billion of damage
occurred (about $29 million).

reduced property values, and stock market effects (Asgary et al.
2012; Rose 2009). Business disruption is principally due to interruptions, changes, and delays in services provided by public and
private electricity and water utilities and transport infrastructure
(Sussman and Freed 2008). Coastal flooding and tropical cyclones
can cause business disruption in developed and developing countries alike, as witnessed in the case of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
These business and economic disruptions generate a major portion of the total commercial insurance losses (Ross, Mills, and
Hecht 2007). In the case of Hurricane Katrina, for example, losses
due to business interruption, at $10 billion, were estimated to be
as high as direct losses. In South East Asia, the 2011 Thai floods
generated $32 billion in business interruption and other losses in
the manufacturing sector (World Bank and GFDRR 2011).
The consequences of past events indicate that economic
losses due to flooding reach beyond the direct point of impact.
Future indirect responses to flooding, however, have not yet been
projected for the region.

Additional Economic Impacts Due to
Business Disruption

Projected Human Impacts

Extreme weather events and sea-level rise induced impacts are
expected to have two types of economic implications: direct asset
losses via damage to equipment and infrastructure and indirect
business and economic disruptions affecting business activities
and supply chains (Rose 2009).
While the consequences of past events imply that disruption to
economic activity is a major potential source of losses incurred by
climate impacts, the current understanding of business disruption
in developing countries is still very limited. Indirect impacts of
disasters include, among other things, off-site business interruption,

Box 4.5: Business Disruption due to
River Flooding
River flooding is another climate-driven risk in low-lying delta regions. Recent observations of the consequence of extreme rainfall
events, such as those that led to the 2011 Thailand floods, indicate
that river flooding can be associated with significant loss of life and
large total economic losses due to business interruption. Damages in the 2011 floods were estimate at $45.7 billion (equivalent
to 13.2 percent of GDP); most of the losses were clustered in the
Bangkok region (World Bank and GFDRR 2011). Flood damage in
this case was 40 times higher than in earlier extreme floods and
had substantial secondary effects on global industrial supply systems (Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters 2013).
This report notes only past vulnerability and does not examine the
possibility of increased exposure to river flooding in the future.

94

The impacts outlined in the above sections are expected to have
repercussions on human health and on livelihoods; these impacts
will be determined by the socioeconomic contexts in which they
occur. The following provides a sketch of some of the key issues
in South East Asia.

Projected Health Impacts and Excessive Mortality
South East Asia has been identified as a hotspot for diseases that
are projected to pose an increasing risk under climate change. These
include water- and vector-borne diseases and diarrheal illnesses
(Coker, Hunter, Rudge, Liverani, and Hanvoravongchai 2011).
Flooding compounds the risk of these diseases. Flooding is also
associated with immediate risks, including drowning and the
disruption of sanitation and health services as a result of damages
to infrastructure (Schatz 2008).
Drowning is the main cause of immediate death from floods
(Jonkman and Kelman 2005). Floodwaters can also damage the
sewage systems and contribute to local freshwater and food supply contamination. Faecal contamination due to sewage system
failure, which can also affect livestock and crops, was observed
in 1999 following Hurricane Floyd in the United States (Casteel,
Sobsey, and Mueller 2006).
The transmission of diarrheal diseases is influenced by a
number of climatic variables, including temperature, rainfall,
relative humidity, and air pressure, all of which affect pathogens
in different ways (Kolstad and Johansson 2011). A factor driving
the transmission of diarrheal diseases in South East Asia is water
scarcity during droughts, which often leads to poor sanitation,
in combination with climate-change-induced impacts such as

S outh E ast A sia : C oastal Z ones and P roductivit y at R isk

droughts, floods, and increased storminess (Coker et al. 2011). In
a 4°C warming scenario, the relative risk of diarrhea is expected
to increase 5–11 percent for the period 2010–39 and 13–31 percent
for the period 2070–99 in South East Asia relative to 1961–1990
(Kolstad and Johansson 2011).
Moreover, vector-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue
fever, may also increase due to floods (Watson, Gayer, and Connolly 2007). Increased sea-surface temperature and sea-surface
height has been observed to positively correlate with subsequent
outbreaks of cholera in developing countries (Colwell 2002).
Heat extremes can also have significant impacts on human
health. The elderly and women are considered to be the most
vulnerable to heat extremes. South East Asia’s populations are
rapidly aging; in Vietnam, for example, the percentage of people
aged 60 and over is projected to increase 22 percent between 2011–50,
to account for a share of 31 percent of the total population in 2050
(United Nations Population Division 2011). These increases in the
proportion of older people will place larger numbers of people at
higher risk of the effects of heat extremes.
While rural populations are also exposed to climate-related
risks, the conditions that characterize densely populated cities
make urban dwellers particularly vulnerable. This is especially
true of those who live in informal settlements (World Health
Organization 2009).

Migration
Human migration can be seen as a form of adaptation and an
appropriate response to a variety of local environmental pressures (Tacoli 2009), and a more comprehensive discussion of
drivers and potential consequences of migration is provided
in Chapter 3 on “Population Movement”. While migration is a
complex, multi-causal phenomenon, populations in South East
Asia are particularly exposed to certain risk factors to which
migration may constitute a human response.
Tropical cyclones have led to significant temporary population
displacements in the aftermath of landfall. The tropical cyclone
Washi, which struck the island of Mindanao in the Philippines
in 2011, caused 300,000 people to be displaced (Government of
the Philippines 2012) (see also Box 4.6).
South East Asian deltaic populations are expected to be the most
severely affected by rising sea levels and storm surges (Marks 2011;
Warner 2010; World Bank 2010b). In Vietnam alone, if the sea level
rises up to 100 cm, close to five million people may be displaced
due to permanent flooding and other climate-change-related
impacts resulting in the submergence of deltaic and coastal areas
(Carew-Reid 2008). However, there is large uncertainty as to the
number of people expected to be affected by permanent migrations and forced relocations due to uncertainties in the projected
physical impacts. The impacts of socioeconomic conditions add
a further unknown to the projections.

Box 4.6: Planned Resettlement
As part of a flood management and environmental sanitation
strategy, Vietnam’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has undertaken the relocation of particularly vulnerable
communities along river banks (Dun 2009). Although these
relocations are often within a radius of 1–2 km, the potential
disruption of social networks poses a risk to people´s livelihoods (Warner 2010). As the impacts of sea-level rise and
tropical cyclones reduce adaptation options, the frequency of
internal, temporary, and permanent migrations may increase
(Warner 2010). Having lost their fisheries and agriculture-based
livelihoods, people have in the past chosen to relocate to urban
areas. A migrant to Phnom Penh from the Mekong River Delta
explained, “Flooding occurs every year at my former living place.
I could not grow and harvest crops. Life therefore was very miserable. Besides, my family did not know what else we could do
other than grow rice and fish. Flooding sometimes threatened our
lives. So we came here to find another livelihood” (Dun 2009: 17)

Conclusion
The key impacts that are expected to affect South East Asia at
different levels of warming and sea level rise are summarized in
Table 4.9.
Due to a combination of the risk factors driven by sea-level
rise, increased heat extremes, and more intense tropical cyclones,
critical South East Asian rice production in low lying coastal and
deltaic areas is projected to be at increasing risk. Coastal livelihoods dependent on marine ecosystems are also highly vulnerable
to the adverse impacts of climate change. Coral reefs, in particular, are extremely sensitive to ocean warming and acidification.
Under 1.2°C warming, there is a high risk of annual bleaching
events occurring (50-percent probability) in the region as early
as 2030. Under 4°C warming by 2100, the likelihood is 100 percent. There are strong indications that this could have devastating impacts on tourism revenue and reef-based fisheries already
under stress from overfishing. The coastal protection provided
by corals reefs is also expected to suffer. In addition, warming
seas and ocean acidification are projected to lead to substantial
reductions in fish catch potential in the marine regions around
South East Asia.
The livelihood alternative offered by aquaculture in coastal
and deltaic regions would also come under threat from the impacts
of sea-level rises projected to increase by up to 75 cm in a 2°C
world and 105 cm in a 4°C world. Salinity intrusion associated
with sea-level rise would affect freshwater and brackish aquaculture farms. In addition, increases in the water temperature may
have adverse effects on regionally important farmed species (tiger
95

shrimp and stripped catfish) as surface waters warm. Increasingly
intense tropical cyclones would also impact aquaculture farming.
Migration to urban areas as a response to diminishing livelihoods in coastal and deltaic areas is already occurring. While this
response may offer opportunities not available in rural areas, cities
are associated with a high vulnerability to the impacts of climate
change. The urban poor, who constitute large proportions of city
populations in the region, would be particularly hard hit. Floods
associated with sea-level rise and storm surges carry significant
risks in informal settlements, where damages to sanitation and

96

water facilities are accompanied by health threats. The high population density in such areas compounds these risks.
South East Asia as a region is characterized by a high exposure to both slow-onset impacts associated with sea-level rise,
ocean warming, and acidification, and sudden-onset impacts
associated with tropical cyclones. The corrosive effects of the
slow-onset impacts potentially undermine resilience and increase
vulnerability in the face of devastating extreme weather events.
This complex vulnerability is set to increase as the world warms
towardÂ 4Â°C.

Table 4.9: Impacts in South East Asia

Risk/Impact
Regional Warming

Heat Extremes

Around 2°C
(2040s)

Around 3°C
(2060s)

South China Sea warmed
at average rate of
0.3–0.4°C per decade
since the 1960s.2 Vietnam warmed at a rate of
about 0.3°C per decade
since 1971,3 more than
twice the global average rate for 1956–2005
of about 0.13°C per
decade4

Summer warming5 about 1.5°C6 above
the 1951–1980 baseline by
the 2040s.

>80 percent of land area during
boreal summer months Indonesia
and southern Philippine islands
are projected to see the strongest
increase, with all summer months
experiencing unprecedented heat
extremes12

Region

Slight increase during dry
season (DJF)

Large model uncertainty regarding changes in wet season rainfall,
ranging from a decrease of 5 percent to an increase of 10 percent13

Extremes

Median >10 percent
increase of extreme wet day
precipitation share of the
total annual precipitation.14

Median >50 percent increase
in extreme wet day precipitation
share of the total annual precipitation10

Both minimum and maximum precipitation extremes
are amplified10

Both minimum and maximum precipitation extremes are amplified10

Marginal increase in maximum number of consecutive
dry days (as a measure for
drought)15

About 5 percent increase in
maximum number of consecutive
dry days16 10

Dry Days

(continued on next page)

S outh E ast A sia : C oastal Z ones and P roductivit y at R isk

Precipitation

Observed Vulnerability Around 1.5°C
or Change
(2030s1)

97

98
Observed Vulnerability Around 1.5°C
or Change
(2030s1)

Risk/Impact

Around 2°C
(2040s)

Around 4°C and Above
(2080s)

Increased drought (uncertain) for parts of Indonesia,
Vietnam, and New Guinea17 because of increase in
precipitation is not enough to
offset increase in evaporation
due to strong heating

Drought

Tropical Cyclones

Around 3°C
(2060s)

Tropical
Cyclone
(intensity)

High-resolution models
show an overall decrease
in TC frequency18; strongest
agreement on decrease
in frequency is found for
the South China Sea.19 Uncertainty remains: For the
western North Pacific, other
methods that project cyclogenesis indicate an increase
in potential TC events
by 10 percent20

High-resolution models
show an overall decrease
in TC frequency18; strongest
agreement on decrease in frequency is found for the South
China Sea.19 Uncertainty
remains: For the western North
Pacific, other methods that
project cyclogenesis indicate
an increase in potential TC
events by 20 percent21

High-resolution models show an
overall decrease in TC frequency18,21; strongest agreement on
decrease in frequency is found for
the South China Sea.19 Decrease
in frequency of TCs making landfall of 35 percent for South East
Asia and 10 percent for the Philippines.22 Uncertainty remains: For
the western North Pacific, other
methods that project cyclogenesis
indicate an increase in potential
TC events by 20 percent23

Global increase in stormcentered rainfall over
the 21st century by between 3–37 percent25—also
in the western North Pacific26

Maximum wind velocity at the
coast is projected to increase
by about 6 percent for mainland
South East Asia and about 9 percent for the Philippines22

30cm–2040s,
50cm–2060s

30cm–2040s,
50cm–2060s

30cm–2040s, 50cm–2060

30cm–2040s, 50cm–2060

75cm (65–85 cm)
by 2080–210028

75cm (65–85 cm) by
2080–2100

90cm (75–105 cm) by 2080–
2100

110 cm (85–130 cm) by
2080–2100, lower by 5 cm around
Bangkok

High resolution models
show an overall decrease
in TC frequency18;
strongest agreement on
decrease in frequency is
found for the South China
Sea19

Tropical
Cyclone
(frequency)

Category 4 tropical
cyclone Nargis (2008)
inundated an area up
to 6m above sea level in
the Irrawaddy River Delta
in Myanmar in 2008. A
total of 2.4 million people
were affected, including 800,000 people
temporarily displaced,
a death toll of 84,000,
and 54,000 missing. Nargis also severely affected
the agricultural sector.
In 2011, tropical
cyclone Washi, struck
the island of Mindanao in the Philippines,
caused 300,000 people
to be displaced24

Table 4.9: Impacts in South East Asia
Observed Vulnerability Around 1.5°C
or Change
(2030s1)

Risk/Impact
Sea-level Rise
Impacts

Around 2°C
(2040s)

Around 3°C
(2060s)

Around 4°C and Above
(2080s)

For the south Hai Thinh
commune in the Vietnamese Red River delta,
about 34 percent (12
percent) of the increase
of erosion rate between
1965 and 1995 (1995
and 2005) has been
attributed to the direct
effect of sea-level rise29

A significant increase in coastal
erosion for the Mekong Delta30

Population
Exposure

20 million people in
South-East Asian cities
exposed to coastal flooding in 200531

8.5 million more people are projected to be exposed to coastal
flooding by 210032 for global sealevel rise of 1m, up to 22 million
if a very high urbanization rate
assumed.33
In Vietnam, close to 5 million
people may be displaced34

City
Exposure

Bangkok – For a 14cm
sea-level rise in 2025,
43 percent of the city area
would be flooded.35
Manila – For a 0.29m
in 2050, a 100-year
return-period flood could
cause damages of up
to 24 percent of the city’s
GDP by 205036; a 30-year
return-period flood could
generate damages of
approximately 15 percent
of the city’s GDP

Bangkok – For a 88cm
sea level rise in 2100, up
to 69 percent of Bangkok area
would be flooded in 2100 respectively37

Ho Chi Minh City – up to 60 percent of the built-up area would be
exposed38 to a 1m sea-level rise

(continued on next page)

S outh E ast A sia : C oastal Z ones and P roductivit y at R isk

Coastal
Erosion (loss
of land)

99

100
Observed Vulnerability Around 1.5°C
or Change
(2030s1)

Risk/Impact

In the Mekong River
Delta in 2005, Long An
province’s sugar cane
production diminished
by 5–10 percent; significant rice production in
Duc Hoa district was also
destroyed39

Salinity Intrusion

Ecosystem
Impacts

Coral Reefs

Coastal Wetlands

Around 2°C
(2040s)

Around 3°C
(2060s)

Low to moderate risk of
saltwater intrusion into
coastal groundwater
resources for a 40cm
sea-level rise.40

Around 4°C and Above
(2080s)
Mahakam river region in Indonesia
– increase in land area affected
by 7–12 percent43

In Mekong River Delta,
with a 30cm sea-level
rise the total area
affected of 1.3–1.7 million ha41. Loss of
about 4.7 percent of rice
paddies in the province due to inundation
and possible agricultural loss of a larger area
of 294,000 hectares
(about 7.2 percent of
the Mekong River Delta
province) due to salinity
intrusion.42
At around 1.5°C warming
above pre-industrial levels, about 89 percent of
coral reefs are projected
to experience severe
bleaching.44 By the
2030s, bleaching events
approach 50 percent likelihood levels under 1.2°C
warming.45

Up to 100 percent of coral
reefs are projected to experience severe bleaching.44
By the 2030s, bleaching
events approach 50 percent
likelihood levels under 1.2°C
warming.45 By the 2050s,
with global mean warming
of about 2°C, between 98–
100 percent of coral reefs
are projected to be thermally
marginal.45

Under all concentration pathways (i.e., ranging from 2°C to
above 4°C by the end of the
century), virtually every coral
reef in South East Asia would
experience severe thermal
stress by year 2050 under
warming levels of 1.5°C–2°C
above pre-industrial levels.45
By the 2030s, bleaching
events approach 70 percent
likelihood levels under 1.5°C
warming.45

Under 4°C warming, in 2100 virtually all coral reefs would be
subject to severe bleaching
events annually.45 Under all
concentration pathways (i.e.,
ranging from 2°C to above 4°C by
the end of the century), virtually
every coral reef in South East
Asia would experience severe
thermal stress by year 2050 under warming levels of 1.5°C–2°C
above pre-industrial levels.45
By the 2030s, bleaching events
approach 70 percent likelihood
levels under 1.5°C warming.45
Coastal wetland area decreases
from 109,000 km2 to 76,000 km2
(about 30 percent) between 2010 and 2100.46
Vietnam – Loss of 8,533 square
kilometres of freshwater marsh
(65 percent loss).
Philippines – Loss of 229 square
kilometres (about 100 percent of
the current surface) of lakes and
wetlands by 2100.47
(continued on next page)

Observed Vulnerability Around 1.5°C
or Change
(2030s1)
Between 1996 and 2011,
fishing output in Vietnam
was multiplied by 13 and
its share of GDP from
fishing and aquaculture
increased from 5.9–8.1
percent48

Marine Fisheries

According to the FAO
Fishery Country Profile,54 fishery exports in
Vietnam in 2004 amounted to $2.36 billion
and 90 percent of commercial landings came
from offshore fisheries.
Exports of overall fish
and fishery products in
the Philippines amounted
to $525.4 million

Poverty

Tourism

Estimations of the costs
of adapting49 aquaculture in SEA range from
$130 million per year for
the period 2010–2050 to
$190.7 million per year
for the period 2010–
2020.50 In their study, Kam
et al.51 identify coastal
flooding and salinity intrusion driven by sea-level
rise as the main threats to
aquaculture

Around 3°C
(2060s)

Estimations of the costs of
adapting aquaculture in SEA
range from $130 million per
year for the period 2010–
205052 to $190.7 million per
year for the period 2010–
202053

A 50 percent decrease in
maximum catch potential around the southern
Philippines and a 16 percent
decrease in the waters of
Vietnam to 6–16 percent increases around the northern
Philippines55

The relative risk of
diarrhea is expected to
increase 5–11 percent for
the period 2010–2039 in
South East Asia relative to
1961–199057

Around 4°C and Above
(2080s)

The relative risk of
diarrhea is expected to
increase 5–11 percent for
the period 2010–2039 in
South East Asia relative
to 1961–1990
Thailand, Indonesia, the
Philippines, Myanmar, and
Cambodia rank among the
most vulnerable tourism
destinations when sealevel rise, extreme weather
events, and biodiversity
losses are taken into account58

Markedly negative trend in bigeye
tuna56

The relative risk of diarrhea is expected to
increase 5–11 percent for the
period 2010–2039 and
13–31 percent for the period 2070–2099 in South East
Asia relative to 1961–1990

Notes to Table 4.9
Years indicate the decade during which warming levels are exceeded in a
business-as-usual scenario, not in mitigation scenarios limiting warming to these
levels, or below, since in that case the year of exceeding would always be 2100,
or not at all.
2
Tangang, Juneng, & Ahmad (2006).
3
(Nguyen, Renwick, and McGregor (2013).
4
Trenberth et al. (2007).
5
The expected future warming is large compared to the local year-to-year
natural variability. In a 2°C world, this shift is substantially smaller but still
about 3–4 standard deviations.
6
Model spread from 1.0°C to 2.0°C.
7
Multimodel mean projecting up to 2°C under 2°C warming by 2071–2099.
8
Occurrence probability around 60 (Sillmann & Kharin 2013).
9
CMIP5 model range from 3.5°C to 6°C by 2100. The expected future warming
is large compared to the local year-to-year natural variability. In a 4°C world, the
monthly temperature distribution of almost all land areas in South East Asia shifts
by 6 standard deviations or more toward warmer values.
10
Sillmann and Kharin (2013), RCP8.5.
11
Beyond 5-sigma under 2°C warming by 2071–2099.
12
Beyond 5-sigma under 4°C warming by 2071–2099.
13
Jourdain, Gupta, Taschetto, et al (2013).
14
Sillmann and Kharin (2013).
15
Sillmann and Kharin (2013), RCP2.6.
16
Sillmann and Kharin (2013), RCP8.5.
17
Dai (2011); (Dai (2012) using the RCP4.5 scenario.
18
Held and Zhao (2011); Murakami, Wang, et al. (2012).
19
Held and Zhao, (2011); Murakami, Sugi, and Kitoh (2012); Yokoi and Takayabu
(2009)
20
Caron and Jones (2007)the main large-scale climatic fields controlling tropical
cyclone (TC.
21
Caron and Jones (2007)the main large-scale climatic fields controlling tropical
cyclone (TC.
22
Murakami, Wang, and Kitoh (2011).
23
Caron and Jones (2007)the main large-scale climatic fields controlling tropical
cyclone (TC.
24
Government of the Philippines (2012).
25
Knutson et al. (2010).
26
Rate of increase depends on the specific climate model used (Emanuel,
Sundararajan, and Williams 2008).
27
Murakami, Wang, et al. (2012). Future (2075–99) projections SRES A1B
scenario.
28
For a scenario in which warming peaks above 1.5°C around the 2050s and
drops below 1.5°C by 2100. Due to slow response of oceans and ice sheets,
the sea-level response is similar to a 2°C scenario during the 21st century, but
deviates from it after 2100.
29
(Duc, Nhuan, & Ngoi, 2012)
30
1m sea-level rise by 2100 (Mackay and Russell 2011).
31
Brecht et al. (2012). In this study, the urban population fraction is held
constant over the 21st century.
32
Brecht et al. (2012). In this study, the urban population fraction is held
constant over the 21st century.
33
Hanson et al. (2011).
1

102

Due to permanent floods and other climate-change-related impacts
conducting [leading?] to deltaic and coastal areas submergence (CarewReid 2008).
35
Dutta (2011).
36
Muto et al. (2010).
37
Dutta (2011).
38
Storch and Downes (2011). In the absence of adaptation, the planned urban
development for the year 2025 contributes to increase Ho Chi Minh City’s
exposure to sea-level rise by 17 percent.
39
MoNRE (2010) states, “Sea-level rise, impacts of high tide, and low discharge
in dry season contribute to deeper salinity intrusion. In 2005, deep intrusion (and
more early than normal), high salinity, and long-lasting salinization occurred
frequently in Mekong Delta provinces.”
40
Ranjan, Kazama, Sawamoto, and Sana (2009) assume a global sea-level rise
of about 40cm above 2000 levels by 2100.
41
World Bank (2010b).
42
Without adaptation measures, rice production may in consequence decline
by approximately 2.6 million tons per year, assuming 2010 rice productivity. This
would represent a direct economic loss in export revenue of $1,22 billion, based
on 2011 prices (World Bank 2010b).
43
Under 4°C warming and 100m sea-level rise by 2100 (Mcleod et al. 2010).
44
Frieler et al. (2012).
45
Meissner et al. (2012).
46
100m sea-level rise (Mcleod et al. 2010).
47
Blankespoor, Dasgupta, and Laplante (2012). The region could lose
approximately $296.1–368.3 million per year in economic value (2000 U.S.
dollars).
48
(General Statistics Office of Vietnam 2012)
49
Raising pond dikes and water pumping.
50
World Bank (2010b) projections were calculated from a set 21 global models
in the multimodel ensemble approach from 1980–99 and 2080–99 under the
IPCC A1B scenario, corresponding to a 2.8°C temperature increase globally
(3.3°C above pre-industrial levels).
51
Kam, Badjeck, Teh, Teh, and Tran (2012).
52
(World Bank, 2010b)For the World Bank study, projections were calculated
from a set 21 global models in the multi-model ensemble approach from 1980–
99 and 2080–99 under the IPCC A1B scenario, corresponding to a 2.8°C
temperature increase globally (3.3°C above pre-industrial levels).
53
Kam, Badjeck, Teh, Teh, and Tran (2012).
54
http://www.fao.org/fishery/countrysector/FI-CP_VN/en.
55
Maximum catch potential (Cheung et al. 2010).
56
Lehodey et al. (2010). In a 4°C world, conditions for larval spawning in
the western Pacific are projected to have deteriorated due to increasing
temperatures to the benefit of subtropical regions. Overall adult mortality is
projected to increase, leading to a markedly negative trend in biomass by 2100.
57
Kolstad and Johansson (2011) derived a releationship between diarrhea and
warming based on earlier studies (Scenario A1B).
58
Perch-Nielsen (2009). Assessment allows for adaptive capacity, exposure, and
sensitivity in a 2°C warming and 50cm SLR scenario for the period 2041–2070.
34

Chapter

5

South Asia:
Extremes of Water Scarcity and Excess
REGIONAL SUMMARY
In this report, South Asia refers to a region comprising seven countries82 with a growing population of about 1.6 billion people in 2010,
which is projected to rise to over 2.2 billion by 2050. At 4°C global
warming, sea level is projected to rise over 100 cm by the 2090s,
monsoon rainfall to become more variable with greater frequency
of devastating floods and droughts. Glacier melting and snow cover
loss could be severe, and unusual heat extremes in the summer
months (June, July, and August) are projected to affect 70 percent
of the land area. Furthermore, agricultural production is likely to
suffer from the combined effects of unstable water supply, the
impacts of sea-level rise, and rising temperatures. The region has
seen robust economic growth in recent years, yet poverty remains
widespread and the combination of these climate impacts could
severely affect the rural economy and agriculture. Dense urban
populations, meanwhile, would be especially vulnerable to heat
extremes, flooding, and disease.

Current Climate Trends and Projected
Climate Change to 2100
South Asia has a unique and diverse geography dominated in
many ways by the highest mountain range on Earth, the Himalayan
mountain range and Tibetan Plateau, giving rise to the great river
systems of the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra. The climate of
the region is dominated by the monsoon: The largest fraction of
precipitation over South Asia occurs during the summer monsoon
season. Eighty percent of India’s rainfall, for example, occurs in this
period. The timely arrival of the summer monsoon, and its regularity, are critical for the rural economy and agriculture in South Asia.

Under future climate change, the frequency of years with
above normal monsoon rainfall and of years with extremely
deficient rainfall is expected to increase. The Ganges, Indus, and
Brahmaputra—are vulnerable to the effects of climate change
due to the melting of glaciers and loss of snow cover. The result
82 Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. This

follows the SREX regional definition and hence does not include Afghanistan. Some of
the studies reviewed in the report however include Afghanistan, and less frequently
Iran or Turkey, in their assessment for South Asia.

is a significant risk to stable and reliable water resources for the
region, with increases in peak flows associated with the risk of
flooding and dry season flow reductions threatening agriculture.
In the past few decades a warming trend has begun to emerge
over South Asia, particularly in India, which appears to be consistent with the signal expected from human induced climate change.
Recent observations of total rainfall amounts during the monsoon
period indicate a decline in rainfall, likely due to the effects of
anthropogenic aerosols, particularly black carbon. In addition to
these patterns there are observed increases in the frequency of
the most extreme precipitation events, as well as increases in the
frequency of short drought periods.

Rainfall
During recent decades, increases in the frequency of the most
extreme precipitation events have been observed. Annual precipitation is projected to increase by up to 30 percent in a 4°C
world. The seasonal distribution of precipitation is expected to
become amplified, with a decrease of up to 30 percent during
the dry season and a 30 percent increase during the wet season.

Temperature
In a 4°C world, South Asian summer temperatures are projected
to increase by 3°C to nearly 6°C by 2100, with the warming most
pronounced in Pakistan. The pattern remains the same in a 2°C
world, with warming reaching 2°C in the northwestern parts
of the region and 1°C to 2°C in the remaining regions. By the
time 1.5°C warming is reached, heat extremes that are unusual
or virtually absent in today´s climate in the region are projected
to cover 15 percent of land areas in summer.
Under 2°C warming, unusual extreme heat over 20 percent
of the land area is projected for Northern Hemisphere summer
months, with unprecedented heat extremes affecting about 5 percent
of the land area, principally in the south. Under 4°C warming,
the west coast and southern India, as well as Bhutan and northern Bangladesh, are projected to shift to new, high-temperature
climatic regimes. Unusual heat is projected for 60–80 percent of
the Northern Hemisphere summer months in most parts of the
region. Some regions are projected to experience unprecedented
heat during more than half of the summer months, including Sri
Lanka and Bhutan. In the longer term, the exposure of South Asia

Increased drought
over north-western
parts of the region,
particularly Pakistan

Increased length of dry
spells measured by
consecutive dry days
in eastern India and
Bangladesh

Sea-level rise above current:

About 20 cm to 2010

30cm–2040s
50cm–2060
90cm by 2080–2100

30cm–2040s
50cm–2060
105cm by 2080–2100,
Maldives 10cm higher

Heat
extremes
(in the
Northern
Hemisphere
summer)d

30cm–2040s
50cm–2070
70 cm by 2080–2100

30cm–2040s
50cm–2070
70cm by 2080–2100

A more comprehensive table of impacts and risks for SEA is presented at the end of Chapter 5.
Years indicate the decade during which warming levels are exceeded in a business-as-usual scenario exceeding 4°C by the 2080s.
Years indicate the decade during which warming levels are exceeded in a business-as-usual scenario exceeding 4°C by the 2080s.
d
Mean across climate model projections is given. Illustrative uncertainty range across the models (minimum to maximum) for 4°C warming are 70–100 percent for
unusual extremes, and 30–100 percent for unprecedented extremes. The maximum frequency of heat extreme occurrence in both cases is close to 100 percent, as
indicator values saturate at this level.
e
50 percent uncertainty range 8–12 percent.
f
50 percent uncertainty range 65–85 percent.
a

b
c

to an increase in these extremes could be substantially limited by
holding warming below 2°C.

Likely Physical and Biophysical Impacts as a Function of
Projected Climate Change
The projected changes in rainfall, temperature, and extreme event
frequency and/or intensity would have both direct and indirect
impacts on monsoon activity, droughts, glacial loss, snow levels,
river flow, ground water resources, and sea-level rise.

Monsoon
While most modeling studies project increases in average annual
monsoonal precipitation over decadal timescales, they also project
significant increases in inter-annual and intra-seasonal variability.
For global mean warming approaching 4°C, a 10 percent
increase in annual mean monsoon intensity and a 15 percent
increase in year-to-year variability of Indian summer monsoon
precipitation is projected compared to normal levels during the
first half of the 20th century. Taken together, these changes imply
107

that an extreme wet monsoon that currently has a chance of occurring only once in 100 years is projected to occur every 10 years
by the end of the century.
A series of unusually intense monsoonal rainfall events in
the mountainous catchment of the Indus River was one of the
main physical drivers of the devastating Pakistan floods of 2010,
which resulted in more than 1,900 casualties and affected
more than 20 million people. Farms and key infrastructure,
such as bridges, were washed away in the predominantly rural
areas affected. The rainfall event itself was only the start of a
chain of events that led to prolonged and wide-scale flooding
downstream, with many other factors due to human activity.
Irrigation dams, barrages, river embankments, and diversions
in the inland basins of rivers can seriously exacerbate the risk
of flooding downstream from extreme rainfall events higher up
in river catchments.
Large uncertainty remains about the behavior of the Indian
summer monsoon under global warming. An abrupt change in
the monsoon, for example, toward a drier, lower rainfall state,
could precipitate a major crisis in South Asia, as evidenced by
the anomalous monsoon of 2002, which caused the most serious
drought in recent times (with rainfall about 209 percent below
the long-term normal and food grain production reductions of
about 10–15 percent compared to the average of the preceding
decade). Physically plausible mechanisms have been proposed
for such a switch, and changes in the tropical atmosphere that
could precipitate a transition of the monsoon to a drier state are
projected in the present generation of climate models.

Droughts
The projected increase in seasonality of precipitation is associated
with an increase in the number of dry days and droughts with
adverse consequences for human lives. Droughts are expected to
pose an increasing risk in parts of the region, particularly Pakistan, while increasing wetness is projected for southern India.
The direction of change is uncertain for northern India. Of the
ten most severe drought disasters globally in the last century,
measured in terms of the number of people affected, six were in
India, affecting up to 300 million people. For example, the Indian
droughts of 1987 and 2002/2003 affected more than 50 percent
of the crop area in the country and, in 2002, food grain production declined by 29 million tons compared to the previous
year. It is estimated that in the states of Jharkhand, Orissa, and
Chhattisgarh, major droughts, which occur approximately every
five years, negatively impact around 40 percent of agricultural
production.

Glacial Loss, Snow Cover Reductions, and River Flow
Over the past century most of the Himalayan glaciers have been
retreating. Currently, 750 million people depend on the glacier-fed
108

Indus and Brahmaputra river basins for freshwater resources,
and reductions in water availability could significantly reduce
the amount of food that can be produced within the river basins.
These rivers depend heavily on snow and glacial melt water,
which makes them highly susceptible to climate-change-induced
glacier and snowmelt. Warming projections of about 2.5°C above
pre-industrial levels by the 2050s indicate the risk of substantial
reductions in the flow of the Indus and Brahmaputra in summer
and late spring, after a period with increased flow. The availability
of water for irrigation is very much contingent on these water
resources, particularly during the dry seasons.
• An increased river flow in spring is projected due to stronger
glacial melt and snowmelt, with less runoff available prior to
monsoon onset in late spring and summer.
• For the Indus River Delta, high flow is projected to increase
by about 75 percent for warming above 2°C. Higher peak
river flows expose a growing number of people inhabiting
the densely populated river deltas of the regions to the combined risks of flooding, sea-level rise, and increasing tropical
cyclone intensity.

Groundwater Resources
Groundwater resources, which are mainly recharged by precipitation and surface-water, are also expected to be impacted by climate
change. South Asia, especially India and Pakistan, are highly
sensitive to decreases in groundwater recharge as these countries
are already suffering from water scarcity and largely depend on a
supply of groundwater for irrigation. In India, for example, 60 percent of irrigation depends on groundwater, while about 15 percent
of the country’s groundwater tables are overexploited, including
the Indus basin. Groundwater resources are particularly important
to mitigate droughts and related impacts on agriculture and food
security. With increased periods of low water availability and dry
spells projected, it is likely that groundwater resources will become
even more important for agriculture, leading to greater pressure on
resources. Projected increases in the variability and seasonality of
monsoon rainfall may affect groundwater recharge during the wet
season and lead to increased exploitation during the dry season.

Sea-level Rise
With South Asian coastlines being located close to the equator, projections of local sea-level rise show a greater increase
compared to higher latitudes. Sea-level rise is projected to
be approximately 100–115 cm by the 2090s in a 4°C world,
and 60–80 cm in a 2°C world, by the end of the 21st century relative to 1986–2005, with the highest values (up to 10 cm more)
expected for the Maldives. This is generally around 5–10 percent
higher than the global mean, and a 50 cm sea-level rise would
likely occur by 2060.

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

Sector-based and Thematic Impacts
Water Resources are already at risk in the densely populated
countries of South Asia, according to most studies that assess this
risk. One study indicates that for a warming of about 3°C above
pre-industrial levels by the 2080s, it is very likely that per capita
water availability will decrease by more than 10 percent due to a
combination of population increase and climate change in South
Asia. Even for 1.5–2°C warming, major investments in water storage
capacity would be needed in order to utilize the potential benefits
of increased seasonal runoff and compensate for lower dry seasons
flows, to allow improved water availability throughout the year.
The quality of freshwater is also expected to suffer from potential climate impacts. Sea-level rise and storm surges in coastal
and deltaic regions would lead to saltwater intrusion degrading
groundwater quality. Contamination of drinking water by saltwater
intrusion may cause an increasing number of diarrhea cases. Cholera
outbreaks may also become more frequent as the bacterium that
causes cholera, vibrio cholerae, survives longer in saline water.
About 20 million people in the coastal areas of Bangladesh are
already affected by salinity in their drinking water.
Crop Yields are vulnerable to a host of climate-related factors in
the region, including seasonal water scarcity, rising temperatures,
and salinity intrusion due to sea-level rise. Rising temperatures
and changes in rainfall patterns have contributed to reduced
relative yields of rice, the most important crop in Asia, especially
in rainfed areas. Cultivated crops have been observed to also be
sensitive to rising temperatures. One study finds that compared
to calculations of potential yields without historic trends of temperature changes since the 1980s, rice and wheat yields have
declined by approximately 8 percent for every 1°C increase in
average growing-season temperatures. Another study found that
the combination of warmer nights and lower precipitation at the
end of the growing season has caused a significant loss of rice
production in India: yields could have been almost 6-percent higher
without the historic change in climatic conditions.
While overall yields have increased over the last several decades,
in the last decade worrying signs have emerged of crop yield
stagnation on substantial areas of Indian cropland. The projected
increase in extreme heat affecting 10 percent of total land area
by 2020 and 15 percent by 2030 poses a high risk to crop yields.
Crop yields are projected to decrease significantly for warming in
the 1.5–2.0°C range; if there is a strong CO2 fertilization effect,
however, the negative effects of warming might be offset in part
by low-cost adaptation measures. Above about 2°C warming
above pre-industrial levels, crop yields are projected to decrease
around 10–30 percent for warming of 3–4.5°C, with the largest
reductions in the cases where the CO2 fertilization effect is weak.
Total Crop Production without climate change is projected to
increase significantly (by 60 percent) in the region and be under

increased price pressure and a trend factor expressing technological improvements, research and development, extension of
markets, and infrastructure. Under 2°C warming by the 2050s,
the increase may be reduced by at least 12 percent, requiring
more than twice the imports to meet per capita demand than is
required without climate change. As a result, per-capita calorie
availability is projected to decrease significantly. Decreasing food
availability can lead to significant health problems in affected
populations, including childhood stunting, which is projected to
increase by 35 percent by 2050 compared to a scenario without
climate change.
Energy Security is expected to come under increasing pressure
from climate-related impacts to water resources. The two dominant
forms of power generation in the region are hydropower and thermal power generation (e.g., fossil fuel, nuclear, and concentrated
solar power), both of which can be undermined by inadequate
water supplies. Thermal power generation may also be affected
through pressure placed on cooling systems by increases in air
and water temperatures.

Integrated Synthesis of Climate Change
Impacts in the South Asia Region
Water resource dynamics: Many of the climate risks and impacts
that pose potential threats to populations in the South Asia region
can be linked back to changes to the water cycle—extreme rainfall,
droughts, and declining snow fall and glacial loss in the Himalayas
leading to changes in river flow—combined in the coastal regions
with the consequences of sea-level rise and increased tropical
cyclone intensity. Increasing seasonality of precipitation as a
loss of snow cover is likely to lead to greater levels of flooding,
and higher risks of dry periods and droughts. Exacerbating these
risks are increases in extreme temperatures, which are already
observed to adversely affect crop yields. Should these trends and
patterns continue, substantial yield reductions can be expected
in the near and midterm. Changes in projected rainfall amounts
and geographical distribution are likely to have profound impacts
on agriculture, energy, and flood risk.
The region is highly vulnerable even at warming of less than 2°C
given the significant areas affected by droughts and flooding at
present temperatures. In addition, the projected risks to crop
yields and water resources, and sea-level rise reaching 70 cm by
the 2070s, are likely to affect large populations.
Deltaic Regions and Coastal Cities are particularly exposed to
cascading risks resulting from a combination of climatic changes,
including increased temperature, increased river flooding, rising
sea levels, and increasingly intense tropical cyclones and their
consequences. Deaths in India and Bangladesh currently account
for 86 percent of global mortalities from cyclones even though
only 15 percent of all tropical cyclones affect this region.
109

• Bangladesh emerges as an impact hotspot with increasing and
compounding challenges occurring in the same timeframe from
extreme river floods, more intense tropical cyclones, rising
sea levels, extraordinarily high temperatures, and declining
crop yields. Increased river flooding combined with tropical
cyclone surges poses a high risk of inundation in areas with
the largest shares of poor populations. A 27 cm sea-level rise,
projected for the 2040s, in combination with storm surges from
an average 10-year return period cyclone, such as Cyclone Sidr,
could inundate an area more than 80-percent larger than the
area inundated at present by a similar event.
• Kolkata and Mumbai are highly vulnerable to the impacts of
sea-level rise, tropical cyclones, and riverine flooding. Floods
and droughts are associated with health impacts, including
diarrheal diseases, which at present are a major cause of child
mortality in Asia and the Pacific.
Climate change shocks to seasonal water availability would
confront populations with ongoing and multiple challenges to
accessing safe drinking water, sufficient water for irrigation, and
adequate cooling capacity for thermal power production.
Irrespective of future emission paths, in the next 20 years a
several-fold increase in the frequency of unusually hot and extreme
summer months can be expected from warming already underway.

A substantial increase in excess mortality is expected to be associated with such heat extremes and has been observed in the past.
Increasing risks and impacts from extreme river floods, more
intense tropical cyclones, rising sea levels, and extraordinarily high
temperatures are projected. Population displacement, which already
periodically occurs in flood-prone areas, is likely to continue to
result from severe flooding and other extreme events. Agricultural
production is likely to suffer from the combined effects of rising
temperatures, impacts on seasonal water availability, and the
impacts of sea-level rise.
Future economic development and growth will contribute to
reducing the vulnerability of South Asia’s large and poor populations. Climate change projections indicate, however, that high
levels of vulnerability are projected and their societal implications
indicate that high levels of vulnerability are likely to remain and
persist. Warming is projected to significantly slow the expected
reduction in poverty levels. Many of the climate change impacts
in the region pose a significant challenge to development, even
with relatively modest warming of 1.5–2°C. Major investments in
infrastructure, flood defense, and development of high temperature
and drought resistant crop cultivars, and major improvements in
such sustainability practices as groundwater extraction, would
be needed to cope with the projected impacts under this level
of warming.

Introduction
This report defines the South Asian region as Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. For the projections of temperature and precipitation changes, heat extremes,
and sea-level rise presented here, South Asia is defined as ranging
from 61.25 to 99.25°E and 2.25 to 30.25°N.83
Although economic growth in South Asia has been robust in
recent years, poverty remains widespread and the world’s largest
concentration of poor people reside in the region. The unique
geography of the region plays a significant part in shaping the
livelihoods of South Asians. Agriculture and the rural economy
are largely dependent on the timely arrival of the Asian summer
monsoon. The Hindu Kush and Himalaya mountains to the north
contain the reach of the monsoon, thereby confining its effects to
the subcontinent and giving rise to the great river systems of the
Indus and Ganges-Brahmaputra.
The populations of South Asia are already vulnerable to shocks
in the hydrological regime. Poverty in the Bay of Bengal region, for
example, is already attributed in part to such environmental factors
as tropical cyclones and seasonal flooding. Warming toward 4°C,
which is expected to magnify these and other stressors, would
amplify the challenge of poverty reduction in South Asia (Box 5.1).
These risk factors include:
110

• Increases in temperatures and extremes of heat
• Changes in the monsoon pattern
• Increased intensity of extreme weather events, including flooding and tropical cyclones
• Sea-level rise
These physical impacts and their effects on a number of sectors, including agriculture, water resources, and human health, will
be reviewed in this analysis. Not all potential risks and affected
sectors are covered here as some (e.g., ecosystem services) fall
outside the scope of this report.

Regional Patterns of Climate Change
A warming trend has begun to emerge over South Asia in the last
few decades, particularly in India, and appears to be consistent

Box 5.1: Observed Vulnerabilities
Observed Vulnerability – Floods
The 2010 flash flood in Pakistan is an example of an extreme event of unprecedented severity and illustrates the challenges South Asia faces
(UNISDR 2011). Unusually intense monsoonal rainfall in the mountainous catchment of the Indus River was one of the main physical drivers of
the devastating flood (P. Webster, Toma, and Kim 2011). The flood caused more than 1,900 casualties, affected more than 20 million people,
and resulted in $9.5 billion in economic damages—the highest number of people affected and the largest price tag ever for a natural disaster
in Pakistan (EM-DAT 2013, based on data from 1900–2013). Homes, farms, and such key infrastructure as bridges were washed away in the
predominantly rural area affected (UNISDR 2011).

Observed Vulnerability – Droughts
Losses induced by past droughts highlight current South Asian vulnerability to droughts. Of the 10 most severe drought disasters globally in the last century, measured in terms of the number of people affected, six took place in India; these affected up to 300 million people
(in 1987 and 2002; 1900–2013 data based on EM-DAT 2013). In India, the droughts of 1987 and 2002–2003 affected more than 50 percent of
the crop area in the country (Wassmann, Jagadish, Sumfleth, et al. 2009); in 2002, food grain production declined by 29 million tons compared
to the previous year (UNISDR 2011). Major droughts in the states of Jharkhand, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh, which occur approximately every five
years, are estimated to affect around 40 percent of rice production, an $800 million loss in value (Wassmann, Jagadish, Sumfleth, et al. 2009).

with the signal expected from human-induced climate change
(Kumar et al 2010).
Recent observations of total rainfall amounts during the monsoon
period indicate a decline in the last few decades. While some earlier
studies find no clear trend in the all-India mean monsoon rainfall
(Guhathakurta and Rajeevan 2008; R. Kripalani, Kulkarni, Sabade,
and Khandekar 2003),84 more recent studies indicate a decline of as
much as 10 percent in South Asian monsoon rainfall since the 1950s
(Bollasina, Ming, and Ramaswamy 2011; Srivastava, Naresh Kumar,
and Aggarwal 2010; A. G. Turner and Annamalai 2012; Wang, Liu,
Kim, Webster, and Yim 2011).85 The data also note a downward
trend in rainfall during monsoon and post-monsoon seasons in the
basins of the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers in the state of Assam
in Northeast India for the time period 1901–2010; this trend is most
pronounced in the last 30 years (Deka, Mahanta, Pathak, Nath,
and Das 2012). While the observed decline is inconsistent with the
projected effects of global warming, there are indications that the
decline could be due at least in part to the effects of black carbon and
other anthropogenic aerosols (A. G. Turner and Annamalai 2012).
Within this overall picture, important changes have been
observed in the structure and processes of precipitation events
in the monsoon region. Most rainfall during the monsoon period
comes from moderate to heavy rainfall events, yet recent studies
indicate a decline in the frequency of these events from the 1950s
to the present (P. K. Gautam 2012;86 R. Krishnan et al. 2012),
consistent with observations of changes in monsoon physics.87
These trends are in accordance with very high resolution modeling (20 km resolution) of the future effects of greenhouse gases
and aerosols on the Indian monsoon (R. Krishnan et al. 2012).
In addition to these patterns, there are observed increases in the
frequency of the most extreme precipitation events (R. Gautam, Hsu,

Lau, and Kafatos 2009; P. K. Gautam, 2012) and in the frequency
of short drought periods (Deka et al. 2012). Deka et al. (2012) attribute this to a superposition of the effects of global warming on the
normal monsoon system. They argue that these changes “indicate
a greater degree of likelihood of heavy floods as well as short spell
droughts. This is bound to pose major challenges to agriculture,
water, and allied sectors in the near future.” Over northern India,
the 20th century has witnessed a trend toward increasingly frequent
extreme rain events attributed to a warming atmosphere (N. Singh
and Sontakke 2002; B. N. Goswami, Venugopal, Sengupta, Madhusoodanan, and Xavier 2006; Ajayamohan and Rao 2008).
Extreme rainfall events over India show wide spatial variability,
with more extreme events occurring over the west coast and central
and northeast India (Pattanaik and Rajeevan 2009). The frequency
and intensity of extreme rainfall events over central India show
a rising trend under global warming, whereas the frequency of
moderate events show a significant decreasing trend (B. N. Goswami, Venugopal, Sengupta, Madhusoodanan, and Xavier 2006).

84 Even though there is no overall rainfall trend in in India, several smaller regions

within the country show significant increasing and decreasing trends (Guhathakurta
and Rajeevan 2008; K. R. Kumar, Pant, Parthasarathy, and Sontakke 1992).
85 Although most studies agree on the existence of this decrease, its magnitude
and significance are highly dependent on the sub-region on which the analysis
is performed and the dataset that is chosen (A. G. Turner and Annamalai 2012).
86 Gridded observational data for Central India show a decrease in moderate
(5–100 mm/day) rainfall events.
87 APHRODITE observational dataset shows that the frequency of moderate-to-heavy
rainfall events (i.e., local rainfall amounts between the 75th and 95th percentile)
during the summer monsoon season has decreased between 1951–2010. For the same
time period, parallel changes in the rising branch of the meridional overturning circulation of the South Asian Monsoon from NCEP reanalysis data are observed with
a decrease in the variability of the inter-annual vertical velocity.

Projected Temperature Changes
A 2°C world shows substantially lower average warming over
the South Asian land area than would occur in a 4°C world.
Figure 5.2 shows the projected boreal summer the months of
June, July, and August (JJA) warming over the Indian subcontinent for RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Summer warming in
India is somewhat less strong than that averaged over the total
global land area, with temperatures peaking at about 1.5°C above
the 1951–80 baseline by 2050 under RCP2.6. Under RCP8.5, warming increases until the end of the century and monthly Indian
summer temperatures reach about 5°C above the 1951–80 baseline
by 2100 in the multimodel mean. Geographically, the warming
occurs uniformly, though inland regions warm somewhat more in
absolute terms (see Figure 5.3). Relative to the local year-to-year
natural variability, the pattern is reversed—with coastal regions

Figure 5.2: Temperature projections for South Asian land area
for the multi-model mean (thick line) and individual models
(thin lines) under scenarios RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 for the
months of JJA

Figure 5.3: Multi-model mean temperature anomaly for RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right) for the months of JJA for South Asia.
Temperature anomalies in degrees Celsius (top row) are averaged over the time period 2071–99 relative to 1951–80, and
normalized by the local standard deviation (bottom row)

112

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

warming more, especially in the southwest (see Figure 5.3). In
a 4°C world, the west coast and southern India, as well as Bhutan
and northern Bangladesh, shift to new climatic regimes, with the
monthly temperature distribution moving 5–6 standard deviations
toward warmer values.
These projections are consistent with other assessments based
on CMIP3 models. For example, Kumar et al. (2010) project a
local warming in India of 2°C by mid-century and 3.5°C above
the 1961–90 mean by the end of the 21st century. These local
estimates come with considerable uncertainty; there is high confidence, however, that temperature increases will be above any
levels experienced in the past 100 years. Using the UK Met Office
regional climate model PRECIS, under the SRES-A2 scenario (leading to approximately 4.1°C above pre-industrial levels), Kumar
et al. (2010) find local temperature increases exceeding 4°C for
northern India.

Projected Changes in Heat Extremes
In a 4°C world, the ISI-MIP multimodel mean shows a strong
increase in the frequency of boreal summer months hotter
than 5-sigma over the Indian subcontinent, especially in the south
and along the coast as well as for Bhutan and parts of Nepal
(Figures 5.4 and 5.5). By 2100, there is an approximately 60-percent chance that a summer month will be hotter than 5-sigma
(multimodel mean; Figure 5.5), very close to the global average
percentage. The limited surface area used for averaging implies
that there is larger uncertainty over the timing and magnitude of
the increase in frequency of extremely hot months over South Asia
compared to that of the global mean. By the end of the 21st century,
most summer months in the north of the region (>50 percent)
and almost all summer months in the south (>90 percent) would
be hotter than 3-sigma under RCP8.5 (Figure 5.4).

Figure 5.4: Multi-model mean of the percentage of boreal summer months (JJA) in the time period 2071–99 with temperatures
greater than 3-sigma (top row) and 5-sigma (bottom row) for scenarios RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right) over South Asia

In a 2°C world, most of the high-impact heat extremes projected by RCP8.5 for the end of the century would be avoided.
Extremes beyond 5-sigma would still be virtually absent, except for
the southernmost tip of India and Sri Lanka (Figure 5.4). The less
extreme months (i.e., beyond 3-sigma), however, would increase
substantially and cover about 20 percent of the surface area of the
Indian subcontinent (Figure 5.5). The increase in frequency of these
events would occur in the near term and level off by mid-century.
Thus, irrespective of the future emission scenario, the frequency of
extreme summer months beyond 3-sigma in the near term would
increase several fold. By the second half of the 21st century, mitigation
would have a strong effect on the number and intensity of extremes.
For the Indian subcontinent, the multimodel mean of all
CMIP5 models projects that warm spells, with consecutive days
beyond the 90th percentile, will lengthen to 150–200 days under
RCP8.5, but only to 30–45 days under RCP2.6 (Sillmann 2013).
By the end of the century, warm nights are expected to occur at a
frequency of 85 percent under RCP8.5 and 40 percent under RCP2.6.

Figure 5.5: Multi-model mean (thick line) and individual
models (thin lines) of the percentage of South Asian land area
warmer than 3-sigma (top) and 5-sigma (bottom) during boreal
summer months (JJA) for scenarios RCP2.6 and RCP8.5

Precipitation Projections
A warmer atmosphere carries significantly more water than a
cooler one based on thermodynamic considerations. After taking
into account energy balance considerations, climate models project
an increase in global mean precipitation of about 2 percent per
degree of warming.88
Model projections in general show an increase in the Indian
monsoon rainfall under future emission scenarios of greenhouse
gases and aerosols. The latest generation of models (CMIP5) confirms this picture, projecting overall increases of approximately 2.3 percent per degree of warming for summer monsoon rainfall
(Menon, Levermann, Schewe, Lehmann, and Frieler 2013). The
increase in precipitation simulated by the models is attributed to
an increase in moisture availability in a warmer world; it is, somewhat paradoxically, found to be accompanied by a weakening of
the monsoonal circulation (Bollasina et al., 2011; R. Krishnan et
al. 2012; A. G. Turner and Annamalai 2012), which is explained
by energy balance considerations (M. R. Allen and Ingram 2002).
Some CMIP5 models show an increase in mean monsoon rainfall
of 5–20 percent at the end of the 21st century under a high warming scenario (RCP8.5) compared to the pre-industrial period (N.
C. Jourdain, Gupta, Taschetto, et al 2013). This newer generation
of models indicates reduced uncertainty compared to CMIP3;
however, significant uncertainty remains.89
In the 5 GCMs (ISI-MIP models) analyzed for this report, annual
mean precipitation increases under both emissions of greenhouse
gases and aerosols in the RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios over most
areas of the region. The notable exception is western Pakistan
(Figure 5.6). The percentage increase in precipitation is enhanced
under RCP8.5, and the region stretching from the northwest coast
to the South East coast of peninsular India will experience the
highest percentage (~30 percent) increase in annual mean rainfall.
It should be noted that the uncertain regions (hatched areas)
with inter-model disagreement on the direction of percentage
change in precipitation are reduced under the highest concentration RCP8.5 scenario. The percentage change in summer (JJA)

88 In contrast to the processes behind temperature responses to increased green-

house gas emissions, which are fairly well understood, projecting the hydrological
cycle poses inherent difficulties because of the higher complexity of the physical
processes and the scarcity of long-term, high-resolution rainfall observations (M.
R. Allen and Ingram 2002).
89 The projected precipitation from a subset of CMIP-3 models was an overall
increase—but with a range of trends, including negative, in monsoon rainfall by 2100
(Turner and Annamalai 2012). The set of four GCMs used by the authors is able to
simulate the observed seasonality and intra-annual variability of rainfall as well as
the ENSO-ISM teleconnection; it showed substantial decadal variability. This is similar
to that observed for the All India Rainfall (AIR) time series. The model ensembles
did not replicate phasing, mean, or standard deviation of the AIR curve, however,
from which the authors conclude that the decadal-scale variability is largely due to
internal variability of the coupled atmosphere-ocean system. The models themselves
do not show consistent changes.

114

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

Figure 5.6: Multi-model mean of the percentage change in annual (top), dry-season (DJF, middle) and wet-season (JJA, bottom)
precipitation for RCP2.6 (left) and RCP8.5 (right) for South Asia by 2071–99 relative to 1951–80

Hatched areas indicate uncertainty regions, with 2 out of 5 models disagreeing on the direction of change compared to the remaining 3 models.

precipitation (i.e., during the wet season) resembles that of
the change in annual precipitation. The winter (the months of
December, January, February (DJF)) precipitation (Figure 5.6)
shows a relative decrease in Pakistan and the central and northern
regions of India, whereas the rest of the regions show inter-model
uncertainty in the direction of change under the RCP8.5 scenario.
This is in agreement with previous studies based on the IPCC AR4
(CMIP3) models (e.g., Chou, Tu, and Tan 2007) which suggest that

the wet season gets wetter and the dry season gets drier. Under
RCP2.6, the direction of the percentage change in winter rainfall
shows large inter-model uncertainty over almost all regions of India.

Increased Variability in the Monsoon System
The largest fraction of precipitation over South Asia occurs during the monsoon season. For example, approximately 80 percent
of the rainfall over India occurs during the summer monsoon
115

(June–September), providing the required amount of water for
both rainfed crops and for the irrigated crops which largely depend
on surface or groundwater reserves replenished by the monsoon
rains (Mall, Singh, Gupta, Srinivasan, and Rathore 2006). The
timing of monsoon rainfall is very important for agriculture and
water supply, and variability in the monsoon system increases
South Asia’s risk of flooding and droughts. A decrease in seasonal
water availability, together with population increases, may have
severe effects on water and food security in this densely populated
region (K. K. Kumar et al. 2010).
IPCC AR4 found projected increases in the variability of the
monsoon and the seasonality of precipitation; these findings are
reinforced by the new CMIP5 model projections. These changes
in monsoon variability are expected to pose major challenges
that increase with rising levels of warming to human systems
that depend on precipitation and river runoff as major sources of
freshwater (Box 5.2).
The total amount of rainfall, the length of the monsoon season,
and the distribution of rainfall within the season determine the outcome of the monsoon season for the human population dependent
on it. For example, the number of rainy days and the intensity of
rainfall are key factors (K. K. Kumar et al. 2010). Along with the
projected total increase in summer monsoon rainfall, an increase
in intra-seasonal variability of approximately 10 percent for a near
–4°C world (3.8°C warming in RCP 8.5 for the period 2050–2100)
is projected, based on CMIP5 GCMs (Menon, Levermann, and
Schewe 2013). The intra-seasonal variability in precipitation, which
may lead to floods, can be one of the greatest sources of risk to
agriculture and other human activities in South Asia. Sillmann
and Kharin (2013a) project, also based on CMIP5 GCMs, that the
total annual precipitation on wet days increases significantly over
South Asian regions under both high- and low-emission scenarios.
While most modeling studies project average annual mean
increased monsoonal precipitation on decadal timescales, they
also project significant increases in inter-annual and intra-seasonal
variability (Endo, Kitoh, Ose, Mizuta, and Kusunoki 2012; May,
2010; Sabade, Kulkarni, and Kripalani 2010; A. G. Turner and
Annamalai 2012; K. K. Kumar et al. 2010):
• The frequency of years with above-normal monsoon rainfall
and of years with extremely deficient rainfall is projected to
increase in the future (R. H. Kripalani, Oh, Kulkarni, Sabade,
and Chaudhari 2007; Endo et al. 2012).
• An increase in the seasonality of rainfall, with more rainfall
during the wet season (Fung, Lopez, and New 2011; A. G.
Turner and Annamalai 2012), and an increase in the number
of dry days (Gornall et al. 2010) and droughts (Aiguo Dai,
2012; D.-W. Kim and Byun 2009).
• An increase in the number of extreme precipitation events
(Endo et al. 2012; K. K. Kumar et al. 2010).
116

Although uncertainty in the effects of global warming on total
wet-season rainfall is considerable in the region (see hatched
areas in Figure 5.6 JJA), there are particularly large uncertainties in GCM projections of spatial distribution and magnitude
of the heaviest extremes of monsoon rainfall (A. G. Turner and
Annamalai 2012). The models assessed by Kumar et al. (2010)90
in general show an increase in the maximum amount of seasonal
rainfall for the multimodel ensemble mean around June, July,
and August.
There are also a number of simulations assessed in the
study by K. K. Kumar et al. (2010) that actually project less
rainfall for JJA by 2100. The relative rainfall increase with

Box 5.2: Indian Monsoon: Potential
“Tipping Element”
Several mechanisms in the climate system have been identified
that when forced by human-induced global warming can lead to
relatively rapid, large-scale state shifts, which can lead to nonlinear impacts for human systems.a Such a “tipping element” of
very high relevance for South Asia is a potential abrupt change in
the monsoon (Schewe and Levermann 2012) caused by global
warming, toward a much drier, lower rainfall state. The emergence
of major droughts caused by this would likely precipitate a major
crisis in South Asia. Physically plausible mechanisms have been
proposed for such a switch and the geological record for the
Holocene and last glacial period shows that rainfall in India and
China has undergone strong and abrupt changes in the past
(Levermann, Schewe, Petoukhov, and Held 2009). Changes in
the tropical atmosphere that could precipitate a transition of the
monsoon to a drier state are projected in the present generation of
climate models and is associated with changes in the El Niño/La
Niña-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) (Schewe and Levermann 2012).
At this stage such a risk remains speculative—but it clearly
demands further research given the significant consequences
of such an event. Major droughts in South Asia are associated
with large-scale hardship and loss of food production. In India,
for example, the droughts in 1987 and 2002/2003 affected more
than 50 percent of the crop area in the country and caused major
declines in crop production.
Examples of such “tipping elements” are passing of thresholds to
irreversible mass loss of the Greenland ice sheet and a dieback of the
Amazon rainforest (Lenton, 2011).

are analyzed based on an observational-based, all-India summer monsoon rainfall dataset and the projections made by 22 CMIP3 GCMs. For the baseline runs
from 1861–1999, observational and reanalysis data were used to force the models,
with the projection period from 2000–2100 for which the SRES A1B scenario was
employed (approximately 3.5°C warming above pre-industrial levels).

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

climate change, which amounts to about 10 percent for the
future (2070–98) with respect to the JJA rainfall in the baseline
period (1961–90), was accompanied by a 20-percent increase
in the “flank periods” of May and October; this could indicate
an increase in the length of the monsoon season. The relationship between monsoonal precipitation and ENSO appears to
be unchanged for the time periods 2041–60 and 2070–98 with
respect to the baseline. This is to some extent ambiguous, as
the future expected warming could result in a more permanent
El Niño-like state in the Pacific that could, in principle, lead
to a decrease in monsoonal rainfall.
Although these results come with a considerable amount of
uncertainty, K. K. Kumar et al. (2010) conclude that there are
severe risks for critical socioeconomic sectors, including agriculture and health.

Regional Sea-level Rise
As explained in Chapter 2, current sea levels and projections
of future sea-level rise are not uniform across the world. South
Asian coastlines are situated between approximately 0° and 25°
N. Being this close to the equator, projections of local sea-level
rise show a stronger increase compared to higher latitudes (see
Figure 2.10). For South Asian coastlines, sea-level rise is projected
to be approximately 100–110 cm in a 4°C world and 60–80 cm in
a 2°C world by the end of the 21st century (relative to 1986–2005).
This is generally around 5–10 percent higher than the global
mean. Figure 5.7 shows the regional sea-level rise for South Asian
coastlines for 2081–2100 under the high emissions scenario RCP8.5
(a 4°C world). Note that these projections include only the effects
of human-induced global climate change and not those of local
land subsidence due to natural or human influences; these factors

need to be accounted for in projecting the local and regional risks,
impacts, and consequences of sea-level rise.
Figure 5.8 shows the time series of sea-level rise in a selection of locations in South Asia. These locations are projected
to face a sea-level rise around 105 cm (66 percent uncertainty
range of 85–125 cm) by 2080–2100. The rise near Kolkata and
Dhaka is 5 cm lower, while projections for the Maldives are 10 cm
higher. In a 2°C world, the rise is significantly lower for all
locations, but still considerable at 70 (60–80) cm. According
to the projection in this report, there is a greater than 66-percent chance that regional sea-level rise for these locations will
exceed 50 cm above 1986–2005 levels by the 2060s in a 4°C world,
and 100 cm by the 2090s; both of these dates are about 10 years
before the global mean exceeds these levels. In a 2°C world,
a rise of 0.5 meter is likely to be exceeded by about 2070,
only 10 years after exceeding this level in a 4°C world. By that
time, however, the high and low scenarios diverge rapidly, with
one meter rise in a 2°C world not likely to be exceeded until
well into the 22nd century.

Figure 5.8: Local sea-level rise above the 1986–2005 mean as
a result of global climate change (excluding local changes due
to land subsidence by nature or human causes)

Figure 5.7: Regional sea-level rise for South Asia
in 2081–2100 (relative to 1986–2005) under RCP 8.5

Water Resources
Apart from the monsoon, the dominant geographical feature of
South Asia fundamentally influencing its water hydrography is the
Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountain complex. These mountains
block the northerly push of the monsoon, confining its precipitation
effects to the South Asian subcontinent and providing, with their
snow and glacial melt, the primary source of upstream freshwater
for many of South Asia’s river basins. Climate change impacts
on the Himalayan and the Hindu Kush glaciers therefore directly
affect the people and economies of the countries of Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.
These “water towers of Asia” play a dominant role in feeding
and regulating the flow of the major river systems of the region:
the Indus, the Ganges, and the Brahmaputra. These rivers drain
into the coast, with the Ganges and the Brahmaputra carrying huge
sediment loads from the Himalayas, creating the densely populated
mega-delta that encompasses West Bengal and Bangladesh (see
Figures 5.10 and 5.11). Reductions in the glacial mass and snow
cover of the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas can have a profound
effect on the long-term water availability over much of the subcontinent. Changes in the characteristics of precipitation over the
mountains, leading to increasingly intense rainfall, contribute along
with other factors to much higher flood risks far downstream and
interact adversely with rising sea levels on the coast.
The Indus, the Ganges, and the Brahmaputra basins provide
water to approximately 750 million people (209 million, 478 million, and 62 million respectively in the year 2005; Immerzeel et al.
2010). The Ganges basin on the east of the subcontinent has the
largest population size and density of the three basins. Both the
Indus and the Ganges supply large areas with water for irrigation
(144,900m² and 156,300m² respectively), while the 2,880-kilometer
Indus River constitutes one of the longest irrigation systems in the
world. All three rivers are fed by the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent
mountain ranges (Immerzeel, Van Beek, and Bierkens 2010; Uprety
and Salman 2011).
In fact, over 50 percent of the world’s population lives downstream of the Greater Himalaya region, with snowmelt providing
over 40 percent of pre- and early-monsoon discharge in the Greater
Himalaya catchments, and more than 65 percent and 30 percent
of annual discharge in the Indus and Tsangpo/Brahmaputra catchments, respectively. An increasing occurrence of extremely low
snow years and a shift toward extremely high winter/spring runoff
and extremely low summer runoff would therefore increase the
flood risk during the winter/spring, and decrease the availability
of freshwater during the summer (Giorgi et al. 2011).
The Indus and the Brahmaputra basins depend heavily on
snow and glacial melt water, which make them extremely susceptible to climate-change-induced glacier melt and snowmelt
(Immerzeel, Van Beek, and Bierkens 2010).91 In fact, most of the
118

Himalayan glaciers, where 80 percent of the moisture is supplied
by the summer monsoon, have been retreating over the past
century. Where the winter westerly winds are the major source
of moisture, some of the glaciers in the northwestern Himalayas
and in the Karakoram have remained stable or even advanced
(Bolch et al. 2012; Immerzeel et al. 2010).
Projections for the future indicate an overall risk to the flow
of these rivers. For the 2045–65 period (global mean warming
of 2.3°C above pre-industrial levels), very substantial reductions in
the flow of the Indus and Brahmaputra in late spring and summer
are projected. These reductions would follow the spring period of
increased flow due to melting glaciers and are not compensated
by the projected increase in rainfall upstream. The Ganges, due
to high annual downstream precipitation during the monsoon
season, is less dependent on melt water (Immerzeel et al. 2010).92
Although snowfall in the mountainous areas in South Asia
may increase (e.g., Immerzeel et al. 2010; Mukhopadhyay 2012),
this may in the long run be offset by the decrease in glacial melt
water as glaciers retreat due to warming (Immerzeel et al. 2010a).
Furthermore, the distribution of the available river melt water
runoff within the year may change due to accelerated snowmelt.
This is caused by increased spring precipitation (Jeelani, Feddema,
Van der Veen, and Stearns 2012), with less runoff available prior
to the onset of the monsoon.
More recent research projects a rapid increase in the frequency
of low snow years in the coming few decades, with a shift toward
high winter and spring runoff and very low summer flows likely
well before 2°C warming. These trends are projected to become
quite extreme in a 4°C warming scenario (Diffenbaugh, Scherer,
and Ashfaq 2012).
Combined with precipitation changes, loss of glacial ice and
a changing snowmelt regime could lead to substantial changes in
downstream flow. For example, the Brahmaputra River may experience extreme low flow conditions less frequently in the future (Gain,

assess the relative importance of melt water, as opposed to downstream precipitation (less evaporation), in sustaining the flow of the three river basins. They define
it as the volume of upstream melt water discharge divided by the downstream
natural discharge, with the natural discharge calculated as the difference between
the received precipitation and the natural evaporation in the basin. Changes in river
basin runoff in both volume (volumetric discharge) and distribution throughout the
year (seasonal distribution) are determined by changes in precipitation, the extent of
the snow covered area, and evapotranspiration (Mukhopadhyay 2012).
92 To project the impacts of climate change on future runoff, Immerzeel et al. (2010)
use a hydrological modeling approach and force the model through the output
of 5 GCMs run under the A1B scenario for the time period of 2046–65 (global mean
warming of 2.3°C above pre-industrial levels). They employ a best-guess glacial
melt scenario for the future that assumes linear trends in degree-days and snowfall
between the observational period and 2050, where degree-days (here expressed in
mm/C) measure snow or ice melt expressed in depth of water for the difference
between the base temperature (usually 0°C) and the mean air temperature per day
(P. Singh, Kumar, and Arora 2000).

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

Immerzeel, Sperna Weiland, and Bierkens 2011). There could be
a strong increase in peak flow, however, which is associated with
flooding risks (Ghosh and Dutta 2012). Combined with projected
sea-level rise, this could have serious implications for Bangladesh
and other low-lying areas in the region (Gain et al. 2011).
Given the potential impacts across the Northern Hemisphere,
this report highlights the likelihood of intensifying hydrologic
stress in snow-dependent regions, beginning in the near-term
decades when global warming is likely to remain within 2°C of
the pre-industrial baseline.

Water Security
Water security is becoming an increasingly important development issue in South Asia due to population growth, urbanization,
economic development, and high levels of water withdrawal. The
assessment of water security threats is undertaken using differing
metrics across the studies, which often makes a comprehensive
assessment difficult. In India, for example, gross per capita water
availability (including utilizable surface water and replenishable
groundwater) is projected to decline from around 1,820m³ per
year in 2001 to about 1,140m³ per year in 2050 due to population
growth alone (Bates, Kundzewicz, Wu, and Palutikof 2008b; S. K.
Gupta and Deshpande 2004). Although this estimate only includes
blue water availability (water from rivers and aquifers), it has to be
kept in mind that in South Asia, in contrast to Europe or Africa, the
consumption of blue water in the agricultural sector exceeds that of
green water (precipitation water infiltrating into the soil) (Rockström
et al. 2009). Thus, climate change, by changing hydrological patterns
and freshwater systems, poses an additional risk to water security
(De Fraiture and Wichelns 2010; ESCAP 2011; Green et al. 2011),
particularly for the agricultural sector (Sadoff and Muller 2009).
Water demand in agriculture and the competition for water
resources are expected to further increase in the future as a side
effect of population growth, increasing incomes, changing dietary
preferences, and increasing water usage by industrial and urban
users. Even without climate change, satisfying future water demand
will be a major challenge. Observations and projections point to
an increase in seasonality and variability of monsoon precipitation
with climate change; this poses additional risks to human systems,
including farming practices and irrigation infrastructure that have
been highly adapted to the local climate. In fact, extreme departures
from locally expected climates that delay the onset of monsoons and
extend monsoon breaks may have a much more profound impact
on agricultural productivity than changes in absolute water availability or demand (see Chapter 5 on “Agricultural Production”).

Present Water Insecurity
Based on several different methods of measuring water security,
the densely populated countries of South Asia are already exposed

to a significant threat of water insecurity. Taking into account
water quality and exposure to climate change and water-related
disasters, ESCAP (2011) identifies India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the
Maldives, and Nepal as water hotspots in the Asia-Pacific region.
South Asia’s average per capita water availability,93 defined by
the sum of internal renewable water sources and natural incoming flows divided by population size, is less than 2,500m³ annually (ESCAP 2011); this is compared to a worldwide average of
almost 7,000m³ per capita per year (World Bank 2010c). In rural
areas of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, 94
10 percent or more of the population still remain without access
to an adequate amount of water, even if defined at the relatively
low level of 20 liters per capita per day for drinking and other
household purposes. Rates of access to sanitation are also low.
In the year 2010 in India, only 34 percent of the population had
access to sanitation; in Pakistan, that number is 48 percent and in
Bangladesh it is 54 percent (2010 data based on World Bank 2013b).
Applying a multi-factorial water security index,95 Vörösmarty
et al. (2010) find that South Asia’s present threat index varies
regionally between 0.6 and 1, with a very high (0.8–1) threat
over central India and Bangladesh on a threat scale of 0 (no
apparent threat) to 1 (extremely threatened). Along the mountain
ranges of the Western Ghats of South India, in Nepal, in Bhutan,
in the northeastern states of India, and in the northeastern part
of Afghanistan, the incident threat level is high to very high
(0.6–0.8).96 Another approach, in which a country is considered
to be water stressed if less than 1,700m³ river basin runoff per
capita is available, also found that South Asia is already a highly
water-stressed region (Fung et al. 2011).

Projected Changes in Water Resources and Security
The prognosis for future water security with climate change
depends on the complex relationship among population growth,
increases in agricultural and economic activity, increases in total
precipitation, and the ultimate loss of glacial fed water and snow
cover, combined with regional variations and changes in seasonality across South Asia. Projections show that in most cases climate

93 Including Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey.
94 Bhutan and the Maldives have slightly higher levels of access to water.
95 Aggregating data on river flows, using cumulative weights based on expert

judgment on 23 factors relating to catchment disturbance, pollution, water resource
development, and biotic factors.
96 Insufficient river flow over parts of Pakistan, the southwestern parts of Afghanistan, and the northwestern arid desert regions of India, especially Rajasthan and the
Punjab, precludes the investigation of ongoing changes in the water security index
(Vörösmarty et al. 2010b). In these areas, water availability is predominantly influenced by snowmelt generated upstream in the Hindu Kush and Himalayas (Barnett
and Webber 2010) and, as shown by Immerzeel et al. (2010), climate-change-induced
glacier retreat can significantly influence water availability in river basins which
heavily depend on snow and glacial melt water.

change aggravates the increasing pressure on water resources
due to high rates of population growth and associated demand.
An example of this complexity can be seen in the work of Fung et
al. (2011), who project the effects of global warming on river runoff
in the Ganges basin.97 A warming of about 2.7°C above pre-industrial
levels is projected to lead to a 20-percent increase in runoff, and
a 4.7°C warming to approximately a 50-percent increase. Without
taking seasonality into account, the increase in mean annual runoff
in a 4°C world is projected to offset increases in water demand due
to population growth.98 With 2°C warming, the total mean increase
in annual runoff is not sufficiently large to mitigate the effects of
expected population growth in these regions; water stress, therefore,
would not be expected to decrease in South Asia.
While an increase in annual runoff sounds promising for a
region in which many areas suffer from water scarcity (Bates et al.
2008; Döll 2009; ESCAP 2011), it has to be taken into account that
the changes are unevenly distributed across wet and dry seasons.
In projections by Fung et al. (2011), annual runoff increases in the
wet season while further decreasing in the dry season—with the
amplification increasing at higher levels of warming. This increase
in seasonality implies severe flooding in high-flow seasons and
aggravated water stress in dry months in the absence of large-scale
infrastructure construction (Fung et al. 2011; World Bank 2012).
River runoff, however, is just one measure of available water;
more complex indexes of water security and availability have also
been applied. A recent example is that of Gerten et al. (2011c), who
apply the concept of blue water and green water to evaluate the
effects of climate change on available water supplies for agriculture
and human consumption. They find that a country is water scarce
if the availability of blue water used for irrigation and green water
used for rainfed agricultural production does not exceed the required
amount of water to produce a diet of 3,000 kilocalories per capita
per day. For a diet based on 80 percent vegetal and 20 percent
animal product-based calories, Gerten et al. (2011c) estimate this
amount at 1,075m³ of water per capita per year.
For global warming of approximately 3°C above pre-industrial
levels and the SRES A2 population scenario for 2080, Gerten et al.
(2011) project that it is very likely (>90 percent confidence) that
per capita water availability in South Asia99 will decrease by more
than 10 percent.100 While the population level plays an important
role in these estimates, there is a 10–30 percent likelihood that
climate change alone is expected to decrease water availability
by more than 10 percent in Pakistan and by 50–70 percent in
Afghanistan. The likelihood of water scarcity driven by climate
change alone is as high as >90 percent for Pakistan and Nepal
and as high as 30–50 percent for India. The likelihood of a country
becoming water scarce is shown in Figure 5.9.
Another study examining the effects of climate change on
blue and green water availability and sufficiency for food production arrives at broadly similar conclusions. In a scenario of 2°C
120

warming by 2050, Rockström et al. (2009) project food and water
requirements in India to exceed green water availability by more
than 150 percent, indicating that the country will be highly
dependent on blue water (e.g., irrigation water) for agriculture
production.101 At the same time, blue water crowding, defined
as persons per flow of blue water, is expected to increase due to
population growth. As early as 2050, water availability in Pakistan
and Nepal is projected to be too low for self-sufficiency in food
production when taking into account a total availability of water
below 1300m³ per capita per year as a benchmark for the amount
of water required for a balanced diet (Rockström et al. 2009).
The projection of impacts needs to rely on accurate predictions of precipitation and temperature changes made by GCMs
(see Chapter 5 on “Regional Patterns of Climate Change”). In
addition, the estimation of impacts relies on (and depends on)
hydrological models and their accurate representation of river runoff.
Furthermore, as the above results demonstrate, water scarcity in
the future is also highly dependent on population growth, which
poses a large source of uncertainty. Finally, many studies use different metrics to estimate water resource availability and water
scarcity, making direct intercomparison difficult. Irrespective of
these multiple sources of uncertainty, with a growing population
and strong indications of climate-related changes to the water cycle,
clear and growing risks to stable and safe freshwater provisions
to populations and sectors dependent on freshwater are projected
to increase with higher levels of warming.

Projected Changes to River Flow
South Asia has very low levels of water storage capacity per capita,
which increases vulnerability to fluctuations in water flows and
changing monsoon patterns (Ministry of Environment and Forests 2012; Shah 2009). India, for example, stores less than 250m³ of
water per capita (in contrast to countries such as Australia and the
U.S., which have a water storage capacity of more than 5,000m³ per
capita). There is a large potential in South Asian countries to both
utilize existing natural water storage capacity and to construct additional capacity (Ministry of Environment and Forests, 2012). The
potential for improvements in irrigation systems, water harvesting

97 Estimates are based on an application of the climateprediction.net (CPDN).

HADCM3 global climate model ensemble runs with the MacPDM global hydrological
model and under the SRES A1B climate change scenario, together with the expected
UN population division population growth scenario. Warming levels of 2°C and 4°C
compared to the 1961–90 baseline were examined. The years by which the temperature
increase is expected to occur varies as an ensemble of models was used.
98 Population projections are based on UN population growth rate projections
until 2050 and linear extrapolations for the 2060s.
99 Except for Sri Lanka; no estimates are reported for the Maldives.
100 Ensemble of 17 CMIP3 GCMs for SRES A2 and B1 climate and population
change scenarios.
101 Using the LPJmL dynamic vegetation and a water balance model driven by climate
output from HadCM² forced by A2 SRES emission scenario.

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

Figure 5.9: Likelihood (%) of (a),(c) a 10-percent reduction in green and blue water availability by the 2080s and (b),(d) water
scarcity in the 2080s (left) under climate change only (CC; including CO2 effects) and (right) under additional consideration of
population change (CCP)

a. GWBW
CC

c. GWBW
CCP

b. Scarcity
CC

d. Scarcity
CCP

Note that the positive percentage scale indicates a 10% decrease in water availability. Results are presented for the A2 scenario. These likelihoods were derived from
the spread of impacts under all climate models (e.g. 90 percent means that the given impact occurs in 9 out of 10 (~15 out of 17) climate change projections).
Source: Gerten et al. (2011).
From Gerten et al. (2011). Global water availability and requirements for future food production. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 12(5), 885-899. Journal of hydrometeorology by
American Meteorological Society. Reproduced with permission of AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY in the format Republish in a book via Copryright Clearance Center.
Further permission required for reuse.

techniques, and water productivity, and more-efficient agricultural
water management in general, is also high; such improvements
would serve to offset risks from climate variability.
A pronounced amplification of river flows, combined with large
changes in the discharge cycle from glaciers and snowpack in the
Himalayas, point to substantial risks, not least related to flooding,
in the future. River flooding can have far-reaching consequences,
directly affecting human lives and causing further cascading impacts
on affected businesses, where small-scale enterprises are often the
most vulnerable. Asgary, Imtiaz, and Azimi (2012) evaluated the
impacts of the 2010 river floods on small and medium enterprises
(SME) in Pakistan. The authors first found that 88 percent of the
sample business owners had to evacuate their towns due to the flood,
therefore causing a major disruption to business. They further found
that 47 percent of the businesses had recovered within 1–3 months
after the occurrence of the floods; 90 percent had recovered after
six months. However, most of the businesses suffered losses and
only a few of them were at the same level or wealthier afterwards
than prior to the event. The authors further explain that small businesses have a higher probability of being located in hazard-prone
areas, occupying unsafe business facilities and lacking the financial
and human resources to cope with the consequences of disasters.
The climate model projections discussed in the previous section strongly indicate that there is likely to be a strong increase

in seasonal flows due to global warming—on top of likely overall
increases in precipitation. These patterns appear differently in
different river basins. For example, recent work by Van Vliet et
al. (2013) projects changes in low, mean, and high river flows
globally and finds pronounced differences between the Indus
and the Ganges-Brahmaputra basins.102 For the Indus, the mean
flow is projected to increase by the 2080s for warming levels of
around 2–°C by around 65 percent, with low flow increasing
by 30 percent and the high flow increasing by 78 percent. For
the Ganges-Brahmaputra system, the mean flow increases by
only 4 percent, whereas the low flow decreases by 13 percent and
the high flow by 5 percent. The changes are amplified with higher
levels of warming between the individual scenarios.
Given these large changes in seasonal amplification of river
flows and rainfall amounts, it is clear that, even for 2°C warming,
major investments in water storage capacity will be needed in order
to utilize the potential benefits of increased seasonal runoff for
improved water availability throughout the year. At the same time,
infrastructure for flood protection has to be built. The required investment in water infrastructure is likely to be larger with a warming of
above 4°C compared to a warming of above 2°C (Fung et al. 2011).
102 Three GCMs forced by the SRES A2 and B1 scenarios with hydrological changes

Cities and Regions at Risk of Flooding
Coastal and deltaic regions are particularly vulnerable to the risks
of flooding. Cities in particular agglomerate high numbers of
exposed people. A number of physical climatic changes indicate
an increased risk of flooding, including more extreme precipitation
events, higher peak river flows, accelerated glacial melt, increased
intensity of the most extreme tropical cyclones, and sea-level
rise. These changes are expected to further increase the number
and severity of flood events in the future (Eriksson, Jianchu,
and Shrestha 2009; Ministry of Environment and Forests 2012;
Mirza 2010). A number of these projected changes are likely to
interact, exacerbating damages and risk (e.g., higher peak river
flows in low-lying coastal deltas potentially interacting with rising
sea levels, extreme tropical cyclones, and associated storm surges).
Such events could in turn pose additional threats to agricultural
production and human health, as will be discussed in Chapter 5
under “Agricultural Production” and “Human Impacts.”
A wide range of flooding events can be influenced or caused
by climate change, including flash floods, inland river floods,
extreme precipitation-causing landslides, and coastal river flooding, combined with the effects of sea-level rise and storm-surgeinduced coastal flooding. In addition to floods and landslides, the
Himalayan regions of Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet are projected to
be exposed to an increasing risk of glacial lake outbursts (Bates
et al. 2008; Lal 2011; Mirza 2010).103 The full scope of possible
flooding events will not be explored; the focus of this section
will instead be on low-lying river delta regions where there is a
confluence of risk factors. This does not mean that other kinds of
flooding events are not significant—merely that they fall outside
the scope of this report.
Climate change is not the only driver of an increasing vulnerability to floods and sea-level rise. Human activities inland
(such as upstream damming, irrigation barrages, and diversions)
as well as activities on the delta (such as water withdrawal) can
significantly affect the rate of aggradation and local subsidence
in the delta, thereby influencing its vulnerability to sea-level rise
and river floods. Subsurface mining is another driver (Syvitski et
al. 2009). Subsidence, meanwhile, exacerbates the consequences
of sea-level rise and increases susceptibility to river flooding.

exposed to floods (UNISDR 2011). Figure 5.10 shows the population density in the Bay of Bengal region.
Deltaic regions in particular are vulnerable to more severe flooding, loss of wetlands, and a loss of infrastructure and livelihoods
as a consequence of sea-level rise and climate-change-induced
extreme events (Ian Douglas 2009; Syvitski et al. 2009; World
Bank 2010d). It is important to recognize, however, that river deltas
are very dynamic; where the rate of aggradation (inflow of sediment to the delta) exceeds the local rate of sea-level rise (taking
into account subsidence caused by other factors), a delta may be
stable in the face of rising sea levels. The vulnerability to climaterelated impacts in the region is modulated by factors determining
the level of sediment inflow. Reductions in sediment inflow have
led to an increase in the relative sea-level rise in the deltas; where
sediment inflow increases, relative sea-level rise may decrease.
The two major deltas in South Asia are those of the Ganges,
Brahmaputra, and Meghna Rivers and of the Indus River:
• The Indus Delta in Pakistan has an area of 4,750 km² below
2 meters above sea level and a population of approximately

Figure 5.10: Population density in the Bay of Bengal region

The Current Situation in the Region
The frequency of extreme floods and the scope of flood-prone
areas are increasing, particularly in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Precipitation is the major cause of flooding (Mirza 2010).
Since 1980, the risks from flooding have grown due mainly to
population and economic growth in coastal regions and low-lying
areas. In 2000, approximately 38 million people were exposed to
floods in South Asia; almost 45 million were exposed in 2010,
accounting for approximately 65 percent of the global population
122

Source: Based on Landscan Population dataset, 2008, Oakridge National
Laboratory (ORNL).

103 The buildup of melt water behind glacial moraines as glaciers retreat forms

lakes; eventually the moraine dams can burst, leading to catastrophic flooding
downstream. An increase in the frequency of glacial lake outburst floods has already
been observed (Bates et al. 2008).

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

350,000.104 The storm-surge areas of the deltas are at present
3,390 km², and the recent area of river flooding is 680 km²
(1,700 km² in situ flooding) (Syvitski et al. 2009). The Indus
was recently ranked as a delta at greater risk, as the rate of
degradation of the delta (including inflow of sediments) no
longer exceeds the relative sea-level rise. In the Indus Delta,
a sediment reduction of 80 percent has been observed and
the observed relative sea-level rise is more than 1.1 mm per
year (Syvitski et al. 2009), exacerbating the global sea-level
rise of 3.2 mm/yr (Meyssignac and Cazenave 2012).
• The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta encompasses Bangladesh and West Bengal, including the city of Kolkata in
India. Within Bangladesh’s borders, the area of the delta lying
below 2 meters is 6,170 km² and the population at present is
more than 22 million. The storm-surge areas of the delta are at
present 10.500km², and the recent area of river flooding in the
Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta is 52,800 km² (42,300 km² in
situ flooding) (Syvitski et al. 2009). The Ganges-Brahmaputra
Delta was recently ranked as a “delta in peril” due to reduced
aggregation and accelerated compaction of the delta. This is
expected to lead to a situation where sea-level rise rates are
likely to overwhelm the delta. A sediment inflow reduction
of 30 percent has been observed in this delta and aggradation
no longer exceeds relative sea-level rise, which is particularly
high in the Ganges Delta at 8–18 mm per year (Syvitski et al.,
2009). Figure 5.11 shows the basins of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna Rivers.

Projections: Risks to Bangladesh
Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in
the world, with a large population living within a few meters of
sea level (see Figure 5.10). Flooding of the Ganges-BrahmaputraMeghna Delta occurs regularly and is part of the annual cycle of
agriculture and life in the region.
Up to two-thirds of the land area of Bangladesh is flooded every
three to five years, causing substantial damage to infrastructure,
livelihoods, and agriculture—and especially to poor households
(World Bank 2010d; Monirul Qader Mirza 2002).
Projections consistently show substantial and growing risks for
the country, with more climate change and associated increases
in river flooding and sea-level rise. According to Mirza (2010),
changes in precipitation are projected to result in an increase
in the peak discharges of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and the
Meghna Rivers. Mirza (2010) estimates the flooded area could
increase by as much as 29 percent for a 2.5°C increase in warming above pre-industrial levels, with the largest change in flood
depth and magnitude expected to occur in up to 2.5°C of warming. At higher levels of warming, the rate of increase in the extent

of mean-flooded-area per degree of warming is estimated to be
lower (Mirza 2010).
Tropical cyclones also pose a major risk to populations in
Bangladesh. For example, Cyclone Sidr exposed 3.45 million
Bangladeshis to flooding (World Bank 2010d). In comparison
to the no-climate-change baseline scenario, it is projected that
an additional 7.8 million people would be affected by flooding
higher than one meter in Bangladesh as a consequence of a potential 10-year return cyclone in 2050 (an increase of 107 percent).
A total of 9.7 million people (versus the 3.5 million in the baseline
scenario) are projected to be exposed to severe inundation of
more than 3 meters under this scenario. Agriculture in the region
would also be severely affected. In addition, rural communities
representing large parts of the population are expected to remain
dependent on agriculture despite structural economic changes in
the future away from climate-sensitive sectors; this would leave
them vulnerable to these climate change impacts. Furthermore,
the highest risk of inundation is projected to occur in areas with
the largest shares of poor people (World Bank 2010d).

Projections: Risks to Two Indian Cities
The following discussion of the climate-change-related risks
to two Indian cities—Mumbai and Kolkata—is intended to be

104 This estimate accounts for the population of the four Teluka (sub-districts of

the Sind Province, based on the 1998 census) within the coastline. Mipur Sakro:
198,852; Keti Bunder: 25,700; Shah Buner: 100,575; Kharo Chann: 25,656. The data
can be found at http://www.districtthatta.gos.pk/Taluka%20Administration.htm.

illustrative rather than to provide a comprehensive assessment of
risks to urban areas in the region. The focus is on large cities as
these represent high agglomerations of assets and people, which
however does not imply a relatively higher human resilience in
rural areas.

Mumbai
Mumbai, due to its geography, is particularly exposed to both
flooding from heavy rainfall during the monsoon and sea-level rise
inundation as large parts of the city are built on reclaimed land
which lies lower than the high-tide level. Indeed, the city has the
largest population exposed to coastal flooding in the world (IPCC
2012) (Box 5.3). The city’s drainage system is already inadequate
in the face of heavy rainfall, and rapid and unplanned urbanization is likely to further increase the flood risk in Mumbai (Ranger
et al. 2011).
The projected increase in heavy precipitation events associated with climate change poses a serious risk to the city—and
that does not even take into account the effects of sea-level
rise. By the 2080s and with a warming of 3°C to 3.5°C above
pre-industrial levels, climate projections indicate a doubling of
the likelihood of an extreme event similar to the 2005 floods
(and a return period reduced to around 1-in-90 years).105 Direct
economic damages (i.e., the costs of replacing and repairing
damaged infrastructure and buildings) of a 1-in-100 year event
are estimated to triple in the future compared to the present day
and to increase to a total of up to $1.9 billion due to climate
change only (without taking population and economic growth
into account). Additional indirect economic costs, such as sectoral
inflation, job losses, higher public deficit, and financial constraints
slowing down the process of reconstruction, are estimated to
increase the total economic costs of a 1-in-100 year event to
$2.4 billion (Ranger et al. 2011). Without adaptation, population and economic growth would increase the exposure to and
damage of flooding events in the future. In terms of adaptation,
Ranger et al. (2011) estimate that improved building codes and

improving the drainage system in Mumbai could reduce direct
economic costs by up to 70 percent.
A limitation of Ranger et al. (2011) is that the study does not
include the impacts of sea-level rise—even though it is very plausible that even low levels of sea-level rise would further reduce the
effectiveness of drainage systems. This report projects the sea-level
rise in Mumbai at around 35 cm by the 2050s under either of the
emission pathways leading to the 2°C or 4°C worlds; for the 2°
world, a rise of around 60 cm by the 2080s and, for the 4°C world, a
rise of close to 80 cm (see Chapter 5 on “Regional Sea-level Rise”).

Kolkata
Kolkata is ranked among the top 10 cities in the world in terms of
exposure to flooding under climate change projections (IPCC 2012;
UN-HABITAT 2010b; World Bank 2011a). The elevation of Kolkata city and the metropolitan area surrounding the city ranges
from 1.5–11 meters above sea level (World Bank 2011a). Kolkata is
projected to be exposed to increasing precipitation, storm surges,
and sea-level rise under climate change scenarios. Roughly a third of
the total population of 15.5 million (2010 data; UN-HABITAT 2010)
live in slums, which significantly increases the vulnerability of the
population to these risk factors. Furthermore, 15 percent of the
population live by the Hooghly River and are highly exposed to
flooding. Another factor adding to the vulnerability of Kolkata is
unplanned and unregulated urbanization; infrastructure development is insufficient and cannot keep pace with current urbanization
rates (World Bank 2011a).
A recent study by the World Bank (2011a)106 on urban flooding
as a consequence of climate-change finds that a 100-year return
period storm will result in doubling the area flooded by a depth of
0.5–0.75m (i.e. high threat level) under the A1F1 climate change
scenario (this scenario considers a projected sea-level rise of 27 cm
and a 16 percent increase in precipitation by 2050). This excludes
Kolkata city, which is analyzed separately, as the city has sewerage networks in place; these sewerage networks are essentially
absent in the peri-urban areas surrounding the city. According
105 For these estimates, projections of precipitation are taken from the regional

Box 5.3: The 2005 Mumbai Flooding
Severe flooding in 2005 caused 500 deaths and an estimated
$1.7 billion in economic damage in Mumbai, the commercial
and financial hub of India and the city that generates about five
percent of the nation’s GDP (Ranger et al. 2011). The flood forced
the National Stock Exchange to close, and automated teller
machine banking systems throughout large parts of the country
stopped working. This demonstrated how critical infrastructure
can be affected by extreme events in mega-cities (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2012).

124

climate model PRECIS. They are driven by the A2 SRES scenario, which projects
a 3.6°C mean temperature increase across India compared to the 1961–90 baseline
period and a 6.5 percent increase in seasonal mean rainfall by 2080 representing an
upper-end estimate of future climate risks (Ranger et al. 2011).
106 Projections are based on the A1F1 SRES emission scenario leading to a global-mean
warming of 2.2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050, 12 GCMs, and an estimated
sea-level rise of 27 cm by 2050. Historical rainfall data for 1976–2001 represent the
baseline (no climate change) scenario. Land subsidence was not accounted for in
the study. Impacts were analyzed in terms of the projected extent, magnitude, and
duration of flooding by deploying a hydrological model, a hydraulic model, and
an urban storm drainage model. The population of Kolkata in 2050 was estimated
by extrapolation based on the past decadal growth rates adjusted for likely future
changes in population growth. A decadal population growth rate of 4 percent was
applied. Past average per capita GDP growth rates were used to estimate property
and income levels in 2050. The presented estimates are based on 2009 prices and
thus do not consider inflation (World Bank 2011a).

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

to the projections presented in Chapter 5 on “Regional Sea-level
Rise”, the sea-level rise in Mumbai and Kolkata is expected to
reach 25 cm by the 2030s–40s.
In Kolkata city, with a population of approximately five million
and a population density almost three times higher than the metropolitan area (the city has a population density of 23,149 persons
per km² while the metropolitan area has a population density of
only 7,950 people per km²), a flood depth of more than 0.25 meters
is expected to affect 41 percent of the city area and about 47 percent of the population in 2050 compared to 39 percent of the city
area and 45 percent of the population under the baseline scenario
(World Bank 2011a).
In terms of damages in Kolkata city only, which accounts for
an area of around 185 km² (the metropolitan area surrounding the
city is about 1,851 km²) the World Bank (2011a) study estimates
the additional climate-change-related damages from a 100-year
return-period flood to be $790 million in 2050 (including damages
to residential buildings and other property, income losses, losses in
the commercial, industrial, and health care sectors, and damages
to roads and the transportation and electricity infrastructures). Due
to data constraints, both total damages and the additional losses
caused by increased flooding as a consequence of climate change
should be viewed as lower-bound estimates (World Bank 2011a).
Given that sea-level rise is projected to increase beyond 25 cm
to 50 cm by 2075 (and 75 cm by 2100) in the lower warming
scenario of 2°C, these risks are likely to continue to grow with
climate change.

Scale of Flooding Risks with Warming, and
Sea-level Rise
With a few exceptions, most of the studies reviewed here do not
examine how flooding risks change with different levels of climate
change and/or sea-level rise. In specific locations, this very much
depends on local topographies and geography; on a broader regional
and global scale, however, the literature shows that river flooding
risks are quite strongly related to the projected level of warming.
Recent work by Arnell et al (2013) reinforces earlier work, showing that the proportion of the population prone to river flooding
increases rapidly with higher levels of warming. Globally about twice
as many people are predicted to be flood prone in 2100 in a 4°C
world compared to a 2°C scenario. Arnell and Gosling (2013) find
that increases in flooding risk are particularly large over South Asia
by the 2050s, both in percentage and absolute terms. Reinforcing
this are recent projections of the consequence of snow reductions
in the Himalayan region: increasing frequency of extremely low
snow years causes extremely high northern hemisphere winter/
spring runoff increasing flood risks (Diffenbaugh et al 2012).
The response to coastal flooding caused by sea-level rise tends
to be much less pronounced; this is principally because, by 2100,

the differences between scenarios are not large when adaptation
is assumed (i.e., rising wealth drives increasing levels of coastal
protection) (Arnell et al 2013). The full difference in impacts would
be felt in following centuries.
For the cases studied here, such as the Indus-Brahmaputra
Delta, Bangladesh and the cities, it is plausible that higher rates
of sea-level rise and climate change together will lead to greater
levels of flooding risk. How these risks change, and likely increase,
with high levels of warming and sea-level rise remains to be fully
quantified.

Agricultural Production
Agriculture contributes approximately 18 percent to South Asia’s
GDP (2011 data based on World Bank 2013l); more than 50 percent
of the population is employed in the sector (2010 data based on
World Bank 2013m) and directly dependent on it. In Bangladesh,
for example, rural communities, representing large parts of the
population, are expected to remain dependent on agriculture despite
structural changes in the economy away from climate-sensitive sectors in the future. As a result, much of the population will remain
vulnerable to these climate change impacts (World Bank 2009).
Productivity growth in agriculture is thus an important driver of
poverty reduction, and it is highly dependent on the hydrological cycle
and freshwater availability (Jacoby, Mariano, and Skoufias 2011).
The rice-wheat system in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, which meets
the staple food needs of more than 400 million people, is a highly
vulnerable regional system. The system, which covers an area of
around 13.5 million hectares in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and
Nepal, provides highly productive land and contributes substantially to the region’s food production. Declining soil productivity,
groundwater depletion, and declining water availability, as well
as increased pest incidence and salinity, already threaten sustainability and food security in the region (Wassmann, Jagadish,
Sumfleth, et al. 2009).
Climate change is projected to have a significant and often
adverse impact on agricultural production in South Asia, the
development of the sector, and the economic benefits derived
from it (Nelson et al. 2009). There are a significant number
of risks arising from climate-change-related phenomena that
need to be considered in assessing the future impacts on the
sector (Box 5.4). For example, the upper temperature sensitivity threshold for current cultivars for rice is 35–38°C and for
wheat is 30–35°C (Wassmann, Jagadish, Sumfleth, et al. 2009).
Future heat extremes may thus pose a significant risk to regional
production of these crops. This section will provide a short
overview of the major risks to crop and agricultural production
in the region before turning to model-based projections of future
agricultural output.
125

Box 5.4: Observed Rice Yield Declines
Observed Rice Yield Decline and Slowdown in Rice Harvest Growth
Using agro-meteorological crop modeling, Pathak et al. (2003) explain the observed rice yield decline in the IGP (1985–2000) as a result of
the combined decrease in radiation and increase in minimum temperature.a Confirming this, Auffhammer, Ramanathan, and Vincent (2006)
apply an agro-economic model over all of India and find that atmospheric aerosols and greenhouse gases, reducing radiation and increasing
minimum temperatures, have contributed to the recent slowdown in rice harvest growth.
In more recent work, the effects of changes in monsoon, drought, and temperature have been disentangled. Auffhammer et al. (2011) find
that rice yields in India would be 1.7 percent higher on average if the monsoon pattern had not changed since 1960, and an additional
four percent higher if two further meteorological changes, warmer nights and less precipitation at the end of the growing season, had not
occurred. The individual effect of increasing minimum temperatures is reported at 3.4 percent; this caused more than half of the total yield decline. Accordingly, the results indicate that average yield in India could have been almost six percent higher (75 million tons in absolute terms)
without changing climatic conditions and confirm that increasing minimum temperatures have had a greater impact on yield than changing
monsoon characteristics. The analysis does not account for adaptive responses by farmers. While controlling for increases of yield due to advances in agricultural technology, the authors assume that the simulated yield reduction is a lower bound estimate (Auffhammer et al. 2011).
Auffhammer et al. (2011) further point out that, though their analysis is based only on observational data and not on climate models, the results
are consistent with climate model projections—and yield reductions are likely to be larger in the future with projected increasing temperatures
and, in some models, a continued weakening of the monsoon (Chapter 5 on “Precipitation Projections”).

Wheat Yield Stagnation and High-Temperature Negative Effects
Recent work by Lin and Huybers (2012) shows that wheat crop yields peaked in India and Bangladesh around 2001 and have not increased
despite increasing fertilizer applications. Using a crop growth model, Kalra et al. (2008) explain the wheat yield stagnation in most parts of
northwest India through the interactions of radiation and temperature change.
Observations of crop responses to extremely high temperatures in northern India indicate a significant and substantial negative effect following exposure to temperatures above 34°C. The authors conclude that present crop models may underestimate by as much as 50 percent
the yield loss from local warming of 2°C (David B. Lobell, Sibley, Ivan Ortiz-Monasterio, and Ortiz-Monasterio 2012).
a

Rice harvests are positively correlated with solar radiation late in the season and negatively correlated with night-time temperature.

The effects of rainfall deficits, extreme rainfall events, and flooding
are projected to be felt differently in different parts of South Asia.
For examples, Asada and Matsumoto (2009) analyze the effects of
variations in rainfall on rice production in the Ganges-Brahmaputra
Basin in India and Bangladesh. This is one of the most important
regions for rice production in South Asia and is responsible for
about 28 percent of the world’s total rice production. Their focus
is on regional differences between the upper and the lower Ganges
and the Brahmaputra Basin. Based on climate and rice production
data from 1961–2000, Asada and Matsumoto (2009) apply statistical
modeling and find that the effect of changes in rainfall differs among
the regions analyzed. While rice production in the upper Ganges
Basin is strongly affected by rainfall variation and is vulnerable to
rainfall shortages, rice production in the lower Ganges Basin is more
strongly affected by floods. In the Brahmaputra Basin, in contrast,
the drought effect is stronger than the flood effect as a consequence
of increasing rainfall variation, though crops are vulnerable to
both droughts and floods. These findings are highly relevant in the
context of climate change as they provide a better understanding of
regional differences and vulnerabilities to provide a stronger basis
for adaptation and other responses (Asada and Matsumoto 2009).
126

Climatic Risk Factors
Extreme Heat Effects
Heat stress, which can be particularly damaging during some
development stages and may occur more frequently with climate
change, is not yet widely included in crop models and projections.
Lobell et al. (2012) use satellite data to investigate the extreme heat
effects on wheat senescence; they find that crop models probably
underestimate yield losses for +2°C by as much as 50 percent for
some sowing dates. Earlier work by Lobell et al. (2011) shows the
sensitivity of rice, and wheat in India to increases in maximum
temperature in the growing season. Compared to calculations of
potential yields without historic trends of temperature changes
since the 1980s, rice and wheat yields have declined by approximately 8 percent for every 1°C increase in average growing-season
temperatures (David B Lobell, Schlenker, and Costa-Roberts 2011).
If temperatures increase beyond the upper temperature for
crop development (e.g., 25–31°C for rice and 20–25°C for wheat,
depending on genotype), rapid decreases in the growth and productivity of crop yields could be expected, with greater temperature increases leading to greater production losses (Wassmann,

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

Jagadish, Sumfleth, et al. 2009). By analyzing the heat stress in
Asian rice production for the period 1950–2000, Wassmann et al.
(2009) show that large areas in South Asia already exceed maximum average daytime temperatures of 33°C.
By introducing the response to heat stress within different
crop models, A. Challinor, Wheeler, Garforth, Craufurd, and Kassam (2007) simulate significant yield decreases for rice (up to
–21 percent under double CO2) and groundnut (up to –50 percent).
Under a doubling of atmospheric CO2 from the 380 ppm baseline,
they show that at low temperature increases (+1°C, +2°C), the
CO2 effect dominates and yields increase; at high temperature
increases (+3°C, +4°C), yields decrease.
Areas, where temperature increases are expected to exceed
upper limits for crop development in critical stages (i.e., the
flowering and the maturity stage) are highly vulnerable to heatinduced yield losses. Aggravating heat stress due to climate change
is expected to affect rice crops in Pakistan, dry season crops in
Bangladesh, and crops in the Indian States of West Bengal, Bihar,
Jharkhand, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka. The situation may be aggravated by reduced water availability due to
changes in precipitation levels and falling groundwater tables, as
well as by droughts, floods, and other extreme events (Wassmann,
Jagadish, Sumfleth, et al. 2009).

Water and Groundwater Constraints
Agriculture and the food demands of a growing population are
expected to be the major drivers of water usage in the future (De
Fraiture and Wichelns 2010; Ian Douglas 2009), demonstrating
the direct linkage between water and food security. At present,
agriculture accounts for more than 91 percent of the total freshwater withdrawal in South Asia (including Afghanistan); Nepal
(98 percent), Pakistan (94 percent), Bhutan (94 percent) and India
(90 percent) have particularly high levels of water withdrawal
through the agricultural sector (2011 data by World Bank 2013d).
Even with improvements in water management and usage, agriculture is expected to remain a major source of water usage (De
Fraiture and Wichelns 2010).
Even without climate change, sustainable use and development
of groundwater resources remain a major challenge (Green et al.
2011). In India, the “global champion in groundwater irrigation”
(Shah 2009), resources are already at critical levels and about 15 percent of the country’s groundwater tables are overexploited, meaning that more water is being extracted than the annual recharge
capacity (Ministry of Environment and Forests 2012). The Indus
Basin belongs to the areas where groundwater extraction exceeds
annual replenishment. In addition, groundwater utilization in
India is increasing at a rate of 2.5–4 percent (Ministry of Environment and Forests 2012). Year-round irrigation is especially needed
for intensifying and diversifying small-scale farming. Without
any measures to ensure a more sustainable use of groundwater

resources, reductions in agricultural production and in the availability of drinking water are logical consequences—even without
climate change (Rodell et al. 2009). Climate change is expected
to further aggravate the situation (Döll 2009; Green et al. 2011).
Immerzeel, Van Beek, and Bierkens (2010) demonstrate how
changes in water availability in the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra
rivers may impact food security. The authors estimate that, with a
temperature increase of 2–2.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels,
by the 2050s reduced water availability for agricultural production
may result in more than 63 million people no longer being able
to meet their caloric demand by production in the river basins.
Depending on rainfed agriculture for food production carries
high risks, as longer dry spells may result in total crop failure
(De Fraiture and Wichelns 2010). In India, for example, more
than 60 percent of the crop area is rainfed (e.g., from green water),
making it highly vulnerable to climate induced changes in precipitation patterns (Ministry of Environment and Forests 2012). The
bulk of rice production in India, however, comes from irrigated
agriculture in the Ganges Basin (Eriksson et al. 2009); changes in
runoff patterns in the Ganges River system are projected to have
adverse effects even on irrigated agriculture.
Based on projections for the 2020s and 2030s for the Ganges,
Gornall et al. (2010) provide insight into these risks. Consistent with
other studies, they project overall increased precipitation during
the wet season for the 2050s compared to 2000,107 with significantly
higher flows in July, August, and September. From these global
model simulations, an increase in overall mean annual soil moisture
content is expected for 2050 (compared to 1970–2000); the soil is
also expected to be subject to drought conditions for an increased
length of time. Without adequate water storage facilities, however,
the increase of peak monsoon river flow would not be usable for
agricultural productivity; increased peak flow may also cause
damage to farmland due to river flooding (Gornall et al. 2010).
Other river basins are also projected to suffer surface water
shortages. Gupta, Panigrahy, and Paribar (2011) find that Eastern
Indian agriculture may be affected due to the shortage of surface
water availability in the 2080s as they project a significant reduction in the lower parts of the Ganga, Bahamani-Baitrani, and
Subarnrekha rivers and the upper parts of the Mahanadi River.
In addition to the large river systems, groundwater serves as
a major source of water, especially for irrigation in South Asia
(here referring to India, Pakistan, lower Nepal, Bangladesh, and
Sri Lanka) (Shah, 2009). In India, for example, 60 percent of
irrigation for agriculture (Green et al. 2011) and 50–80 percent of
domestic water use depend on groundwater, and yet 95 percent
of total groundwater consumption is used for irrigation (Rodell,
Velicogna, and Famiglietti 2009).
107 SRES A1F scenario leading to a temperature increase of approximately 2.3°C

With its impacts on surface water and precipitation levels,
climate change would affect groundwater resources (Green et al.
2011). South Asia, and especially India and Pakistan, are highly
sensitive to decreases in groundwater recharge as these countries are
already suffering from water scarcity and largely depend on water
supplied from groundwater (Döll 2009). Groundwater resources
are particularly important to mitigate droughts and related impacts
on agriculture and food security, and it is likely that groundwater
resources will become even more important in the future at times
of low surface water availability and dry spells (Döll 2009; Green et
al. 2011). To date, climate-related changes in groundwater resources
have been relatively small compared to non-climatic forces such as
groundwater mining, contamination, and reductions in recharge.
Groundwater recharge is highly dependent on monsoon rainfall,
and the changing variability of the monsoon season poses a severe risk
to agriculture. Farming systems in South Asia are highly adapted to
the local climate, particularly the monsoon. Approximately 80 percent
of the rainfall over India alone occurs during the summer monsoon
(June-September). This rainfall provides water for the rainfed and
irrigated crops that depend largely on surface and groundwater
reserves that are replenished by the monsoon rains. Observations
indicate the agricultural sector´s vulnerability to changes in monsoon
precipitation: with a 19-percent decline in summer monsoon rainfall
in 2002, Indian food grain production was reduced by about 18 percent compared to the preceding year (and 10–15 percent compared
to the previous decadal average) (Mall et al. 2006).
Observations of agricultural production during ENSO events
confirm strong responses to variations in the monsoon regime.
ENSO events play a key role in determining agricultural production (Iglesias, Erda, and Rosenzweig 1996). Several studies, using
historical data on agricultural statistics and climate indices, have
established significant correlations between summer monsoon
rainfall anomalies, strongly driven by the ENSO events, and crop
production anomalies (e.g., Webster et al. 1998).
Recent statistical analysis by Auffhammer, Ramanathan, and
Vincent (2011) also confirm that changes in monsoon rainfall over
India, with less frequent but more intense rainfall in the recent
past (1966–2002) contributed to reduced rice yields. Droughts
have also been found to have more severe impacts than extreme
precipitation events (Auffhammer et al. 2011). This decrease in
production is due to both direct drought impacts on yields and
to the reduction of the planted areas for some water-demanding
crops (e.g., rice) as farmers observe that the monsoon may arrive
too late (Gadgil and Rupa Kumar 2006).

Salinization
Soil salinity has been hypothesized to be one possible reason for
observed yield stagnations (or decreases) in the Indo-Gangetic
Plain (Ladha et al. 2003). Climate change is expected to increase
the risk of salinity through two mechanisms. First, deltaic regions
128

and wetlands are exposed to the risks of sea-level rise and increased
inundation causing salinity intrusion into irrigation systems and
groundwater resources. Second, higher temperatures would lead
to excessive deposits of salt on the surface, further increasing the
percentage of brackish groundwater (Wassmann, Jagadish, Heuer,
Ismail, Redonna, et al. 2009). However, similar to diminished
groundwater availability, which is largely due to rates of extraction
exceeding rates of recharge and is, in this sense, human induced
(Bates 2008), groundwater and soil salinization are also caused by
the excessive use of groundwater in irrigated agriculture. Salinity
stress through brackish groundwater and salt-affected soils reduces
crop yields; climate change is expected to aggravate the situation
(Wassmann, Jagadish, Heuer, et al., 2009).

Drought
Droughts are an important factor in determining agricultural production and food security. They can also have severe implications
for rural livelihoods, migration, and economic losses (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2012; UNISDR 2011). Evidence
indicates that parts of South Asia have become drier since the 1970s
(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007) in terms of
reduced precipitation and increased evaporation due to higher
surface temperatures, although the attribution of these changes
in dryness has not yet been resolved.
Bangladesh is regularly affected by severe droughts as a result
of erratic rainfall and unstable monsoon precipitation. While
country-wide droughts occur approximately every five years, local
droughts in rainfed agricultural areas, such as the northwest of
Bangladesh, occur more regularly and cause yield losses higher
than those from flooding and submergence (Wassmann, Jagadish,
Sumfleth, et al. 2009).
Droughts can be a result of an overall decline in rainfall in
wet or dry season, a shift in the timing of the wet season, as well
as a strong local warming that exhausts water bodies and soils
by evaporation. Across models, total annual precipitation is projected on average to increase over southern India and decrease
over northwestern India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, while the
difference between years might increase due to increased interannual variability of the monsoon (Chapter 5 on “Precipitation
Projections”). Some models show a peak in precipitation increase
over northern India and Pakistan rather than over southern India
(e.g., Taylor et al. 2012). In the dry season, the models generally
agree on a projected widespread reduction in precipitation across
the region (Chapter 5 on “Precipitation Projections”), which
increases the population’s dependence on river flow, above ground
water storage, and ground water for natural systems during the
monsoon season. In a 4°C warming scenario globally, annual
mean warming is projected to exceed 4°C in southern India and
rise to more than 6°C in Afghanistan (Chapter 5 on “Projected
Temperature Changes”)—increasing both evaporation and water

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

requirements of plants for evapotranspiration. Using such projections in precipitation and warming, (Dai 2012) estimates that, for
a global mean warming of 3°C by the end of the 21st century, the
drought risk expressed by the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI)
becomes higher across much of northwestern India, Pakistan, and
Afghanistan but becomes lower across southern and eastern India.
It should be noted that such projections are uncertain, not only
due to the spread in model projections but also to the choice of drought
indicator (Taylor et al. 2012). For example, drought indicators like
PDSI include a water balance calculation involving precipitation and
evaporation and relate the results to present-day conditions, so that
drought risk is presented relative to existing conditions. By contrast,
Dai (2012) showed that projected changes in soil-moisture content
indicate a drying in northwestern Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the
Himalayas—but no significant drying or wetting over most of India.

Figure 5.12: Low elevation areas in the Ganges-Brahmaputra
Delta

Flooding and Sea-level Rise
Flooding poses a particular risk to deltaic agricultural production.
The rice production of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta
region of Bangladesh, for example, accounts for 34 percent of the
national rice production and is used for domestic consumption
only. Large parts of the area are less than five meters above sea
level and therefore at high risk of sea-level rise (see Figure 5.12).
Bangladesh is a rice importer; even today, food shortages are a
persistent problem in the country, making it even more vulnerable to production shocks and rising food prices (Douglas 2009;
Wassmann, Jagadish, Sumfleth, et al. 2009). Higher flood risk
as a consequence of climate change poses a severe threat to the
Aman rice crop in Bangladesh, which is one of the three rice crops
in Bangladesh that grows in the monsoon season; it accounts
for more than half of the national crop (Wassmann, Jagadish,
Sumfleth, et al. 2009). Increased flood risk to the Aman and Aus
(pre-monsoon) rice crops is likely to interact with other climate
change impacts on the Boro (post-monsoon) rice crop production,
leading to substantial economic damages (Yu et al. 2010). In this
region, large amounts of productive land could be lost to sea-level
rise, with 40-percent area losses projected in the southern region
of Bangladesh for a 65 cm rise by the 2080s (Yu et al. 2010).

Tropical Cyclone Risks
Tropical cyclones already lead to substantial damage to agricultural
production, particularly in the Bay of Bengal region, yet very few
assessments of the effects of climate change on agriculture in the
region include estimates of the likely effects of increased tropical
cyclone intensity.
Tropical cyclones are expected to decrease in frequency and
increase in intensity under future climate change (see Chapter
4 on “Tropical Cyclone Risks” for more discussion on tropical
cyclones). More intense tropical cyclones, combined with sea-level
rise, would increase the depth and risk of inundation from floods

and storm surges and reduce the area of arable land (particularly
in low-lying deltaic regions) (Box 5.5). In Bangladesh, for example,
a projected 27 cm sea-level rise by 2050, combined with a storm
surge induced by an average 10-year return-period cyclone such
as Sidr, could inundate an area 88-percent larger than the area
inundated by current cyclonic storm surges108 (World Bank 2010d).
Under this scenario, for the different crop seasons, the crop areas

Box 5.5: The Consequences of
Cyclone Sidr
In 2007, category four cyclone Sidr (NASA, 2007) in Bangladesh
caused a production loss of 800,000 tons of rice, or about 2 percent of total annual production in 2007 (FAO 2013). It also resulted
in $1.7 billion in economic damages. The major damage occurred
in the housing sector, followed by agriculture and infrastructure
(Wassmann, Jagadish, Sumfleth, et al. 2009; World Bank 2010d).

108 Based on the assumption that landfall occurs during high-tide and that wind

exposed to inundation are projected to increase by 19 percent for
the Aman crop, by 18 percent for the Aus crop, and by 43 percent
for the Boro crop. The projected regional sea-level rise by 2050 is
estimated in Chapter 5 on “Regional Patterns of Climate Change” at
around 30–35 cm under both the 2°C and 4°C scenarios, with sea
levels rising to 80 cm by 2100 in the former scenario and to over
a meter in the latter one.

Uncertain CO2 Fertilization Effect
Despite the different representations of some specific biophysical
processes, the simulations generally show that the positive fertilization
effect of the increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration may counteract
the negative impacts of increased temperature (e.g., A. J. Challinor
& Wheeler 2008). There are, however, regional differences: For the
intensive agricultural areas of northwest India, enhanced wheat
and rice yields might be expected under climate change, provided
that current irrigation can be maintained. Enhanced yields could
also be expected for rainfed rice in southwest India if the temperature increase remains limited, as water use efficiency is enhanced
under elevated atmospheric CO2 levels. Uncertainties associated
with the representation or parameterization of the CO2 fertilization
effect, however, lead to a large range of results given by different
crop models (see Chapter 3 on “Crops” for more discussion on the
CO2 fertilization effect). For example, large parts of South Asia are
projected to experience significant declines in crop yield without
CO2 fertilization, while increases are projected when taking the
potential CO2 fertilization effect into account. However, controversy
remains as to the strength of the effect, and there is considerable
doubt that the full benefits can be obtained (Müller et al. 2010).

Projected Changes in Food Production
The impacts of climate change on crop production in South Asia
could be severe. Projections are particularly negative when CO2 fertilization, of which the actual benefits are still highly uncertain,
is not accounted for. Low-cost adaptation measures may mitigate
against yield declines up to 2.5°C warming if the CO2 fertilization
effect is taken into account; where the CO2 fertilization effect is
not accounted for, yields show a steady decline.
It is important to recognize that the assessments outlined below
do not yet include the known effects of extreme high temperatures
on crop production, the effects of extreme rainfall and increased
seasonality of the monsoon, lack of needed irrigation water (many
assessments assume irrigation will be available when needed), or
the effects of sea-level rise and storm surges on loss of land and
salinization of groundwater. The evidence from crop yields studies
indicates that the CO2 fertilization effect is likely to be outweighed
by the negative effects of higher warming above 2.5°C.
The crop yield review here shows a significant risk, in the
absence of a strong CO2 fertilization effect, of a substantial,
130

increasing negative pressure from present warming levels upward.
The rapid increase in the area of South Asia expected to be affected
by extreme monthly heat is 10 percent of total land area by 2020 and
approximately 15 percent by 2030;109 combined with evidence of
a negative response to increases in maximum temperature in the
growing season, this points to further risks to agricultural production in the region.
There are relatively few integrated projections to date of total
crop production in South Asia. Most published studies focus on
estimating changes in crop yield (that is, yield per unit area) for
specific crops in specific regions, and examine the consequences
of climate change and various adaptation measures on changes
in yield. Although total crop production (for a given area over a
given timeframe) is fundamentally influenced by crop yield, other
factors (availability of water, soil salinization, land availability,
and so forth) play an important role and need to be accounted for.
Crop yields in South Asia have improved over time, and it can be
expected that future improvements may occur due to technological
changes, cultivar breeding and optimization, production efficiencies,
and improved farm management practices. A recent global assessment of crop yield trends, however, indicates grounds for concern
in South Asia (Lobell, Schlenker, and Costa-Roberts 2011). In India,
rice crop yields have been improving on about 63 percent of the
cropped area—but not improving on the remainder. For wheat,
crop yield is increasing on about 30 percent of the cropped area
in India, but not on the rest. In Pakistan, wheat crop yields are
improving on about 87 percent of the cropped area. For soybean
crops in India, yield improvements are occurring on about half
of the area. Maize, not yet a large crop in India, exhibits yields
improving on over 60 percent of the cropped area.
Figure 5.13 shows the relationship between global mean
temperature and yield changes for most of the crops grown in
South Asia. Recent studies show results for different crops (maize,
wheat, rice, groundnut, sorghum, and soybean), for different
irrigation systems, and for different regions (see Appendix 4 for
details). Often the results are presented as a range for different
GCM models or for a region or sub-regions. In the following
analysis, which is an attempt to identify a common pattern of
the effects of CO2 fertilization and adaptation measures on crop
yield, all crops are gathered together without distinction among
crop types, irrigation systems, or regions in Asia. In cases in
which a study showed a range of GCM models for a specific
crop, the average of the models was considered as representative of yield change.
Across the whole warming range considered, there exists a
significant relationship between crop yield decrease and temperature increase (F=25.3, p<0.001) regardless of crop type or
109 Values for this timeframe are independent of the warming scenario that is pro-

Data points represent different types of crops, in different regions of Asia,
considering different irrigation systems and the effects of CO2fertilization (dark
blue) or not (light blue), and of adaptation measures (circles) or not (triangles).

whether the effects of CO2 fertilization or adaptation measures
are taken into account:
• For warming below about 2.1 degrees above pre-industrial
levels, and with cases with and without CO2 fertilization
taken together, there is no longer a significant relationship
between warming and yield loss. This suggests that the effects
of adaptation measures and CO2 fertilization are stronger and
may compensate for the adverse effects of climate change
under 2°C warming.
• If one excludes cases that include CO2 fertilization, then significant yield losses may occur before 2°C warming.
• With increases in warming about 2°C above pre-industrial
levels, crop yields decrease regardless of these potentially
positive effects. While CO2 fertilization partly compensates
for the adverse effects of climate change, this compensation
appears stronger under temperature increases below 2°C above
pre-industrial levels.
The same data as above is shown in Figure 5.14 with statistical relationships. The median estimates of yields indicate that
studies with CO2 fertilization and adaptation measures (dark
blue) and CO2 fertilization without adaptation measures (red)
show a fairly flat response to about 2°C warming—and then
show a decreasing yield trend. Yields excluding these effects
(green and light blue) show a decreasing yield trend with a
temperature increase. There is no significant difference between

The whiskers are lines extending from each end of the boxes to show the extent
of the rest of the data. Outliers are data with values beyond the ends of the
whiskers. Overlap of the narrowing around the median (notches) indicates that
the difference between the medians is not significant to p<0.05.

red bars (adding only CO2 fertilization effects) between 1.2–2.1°C
temperature increase levels; this becomes significant at 2.5°C.
If the effects of both CO2 fertilization and adaptation measures
are taken into account (dark blue bars), then the medians only
differ significantly at the highest level of temperature increase.
This suggests that a substantial, realized CO2 fertilization effect
and adaptation measures have positive effects at lower levels of
temperature increases but that, at higher temperature increases,
this effect is overshadowed by the stronger effects of greater
climate change. If there is a strong CO2 fertilization effect,
the effects of warming might be compensated for by low-cost
adaptation measures below about 2°C warming, whereas for
warming greater than this yield levels are likely to decrease.
With increases in warming above about 2°C above pre-industrial
levels, crop yields appear likely to decrease regardless of these
potentially positive effects.
This overall pattern of increasingly large and likely negative
impacts on yields with rising temperatures would have a substantial
effect on future crop production.
Lal (2011) estimates the overall consequences for crop production in South Asia. He finds that in the longer term CO2 fertilization
effects would not be able to offset the negative impacts of increases
in temperatures beyond 2°C on rice and wheat yields in South Asia.
131

He estimates that cereal production would decline 4–10 percent
under the most conservative climate change projections (a regional
warming of 3°C) by the end of this century.
A recent assessment by Nelson et al. (2010) is a fully integrated
attempt to estimate the global crop production consequences of
climate change; this report draws substantially upon that work. The
most important crops in South Asia are rice and wheat, accounting
for about 50 percent and 40 percent of production, respectively.
Nelson et al. (2009, 2010)110 estimate the direct effects of climate
change (changes in temperature and precipitation for rainfed crops
and temperature increases for irrigated crops) on the production of
different crops with and without the effect of CO2 fertilization under
a global mean warming of about 1.8°C above pre-industrial levels
by 2050. They find that South Asia (including Afghanistan) is affected
particularly hard by climate change—especially when the potential
benefits of the CO2 fertilization effect are not included (Nelson et
al., 2009, 2010). The authors make the decision in conducting their
analysis to show mainly results excluding the CO2 fertilization effect
as “this is the most likely outcome in farmers’ fields.”
Two climate model projections are applied for the South Asian
region in 2050. One of the models (NCAR) projects a substantial
(11 percent) increase in precipitation; the other (CSIRO) model

projects about a 1.6 percent increase above 2000 levels. The
CMIP5 projections reviewed above project about a 2.3 percent
increase in precipitation per degree of global mean warming
(1.3–3 percent range); hence, more recent projections than those
deployed by Nelson et al. (2010) imply a likely total increase of
about 4 percent in 2050. In analyzing the results of this work, this
report averages the model results; in the case of South Asia there
is little overall difference between the models.
Table 5.2 provides a summary of the assessment of the integrated effects of climate change on crop production in South Asia.
Without climate change, overall crop production is projected to
increase significantly (by about 60 percent) although, in per capita
terms, crop production will likely not quite keep pace with projected

110 The estimates are based on the global agriculture supply and demand model

IMPACT 2009, which is linked to the biophysical crop model DSSAT. Climate
change projections are based on the NCAR and the CSIRO models and the A2 SRES
emissions scenario, leading to a global mean warming of about 2.0°C above preindustrial levels by 2050 (Nelson et al. 2009, 2010). To capture the uncertainty in
the CO2 fertilization effect, simulations are conducted at two levels of atmospheric
CO2 in 2050: the year 2000 level of 369 ppm, called the no-CO2fertilization scenario;
and the projected level in 2050 for 532 ppm under the SRES A2 scenario, termed
the with-CO2 fertilization scenario.

Table 5.2: Major results from the Nelson et al. (2010) assessment of crop production changes to 2050 under climate change in
South Asia

Crop
Production
(Year 2000)

Crop as
Percentage
of Total 2000

Projected Yield
Improvements
No Climate
Change (% p.a.)

Crop
Production 2050
No Climate
Change

Crop Production 2050
with Climate
Change and No
CO2 fertilization Effect

Average Annual
Yield Change
with Climate
Change

Rice (mmt)

120

48%

0.9%

169

145

–0.2%

Wheat (mmt)

97

38%

1.6%

191

103

–1.3%

Crops

Maize (mmt)

16

6%

0.6%

19

16

0.1%

Millet (mmt)

11

4%

1.5%

12

11

0.0%

8

3%

1.2%

1.4%

10

8

Total (mmt)

Sorghum (mmt)

252

401

282

Cereal Availability (kg/
capita)

185

174

122

Daily Per Capita
Availability
(kcal/capita/day)

2,424

2,660

2,241

Total Population (million)

1,361

2,306

2,306

Net Cereal Exports (mmt)

15

–20

–53

Value of Net Cereal Trade
(million $)

$2,589

-$2,238

-$14,827

Number of Malnourished
Children (million)

76

52

59

Note that crop production in 2050 with climate change and no CO2 fertilization effect is calculated as an average of the CSIRO and NCAR models used by Nelson et
al. (2010) in the study. Projections start from climate conditions, including CO2 concentration around year 2000. No explicit assumptions are made as to the effects of
climate change to year 2000.

132

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

population growth. Under climate change, however, and assuming
the CO2 fertilization effect does not increase above present levels, a
significant (about one-third) decline in per capita South Asian crop
production is projected. With much larger yield reductions projected
after 2050 than before (based on the above analysis), it could be
expected that this food production deficit could grow further.
In South Asia, with the growth in overall crop production
reduced from about 60 percent in the absence of climate change
to a little over a 12 percent increase, and with population increasing about 70 percent over the same period, there would be a need
for substantial crop imports. Nelson et al. (2010) estimate imports
in 2050 to be equivalent to about 20 percent of production in the
climate change scenario. Compared to the case without climate
change, where about five percent of the assessed cereals would be
imported in 2050 under the base scenario (costing over $2 billion per
year), import costs would increase to around $15 billion per year.
In addition to the direct impacts of climate change on water
and agricultural yield, there are also indirect impacts which have
major implications for the food security of the region. These
include food price fluctuations and trade and economic adjustments, which may either amplify or reduce the adverse effects
of climate change.
Even without climate change, world food prices are expected to
increase due to population and income growth as well as a growing demand for biofuels (Nelson et al. 2010). At the global level
and with climate change, Nelson et al. (2010) estimate additional
world food price increases to range from 32–37 percent for rice
and from 94–111 percent for wheat by 2050 (compared to 2000).
Adjusting for CO2 fertilization as a result of climate change, price
increases are projected to be 11–17 percent lower for rice, wheat, and
maize, and about 60-percent lower for soybeans (Nelson et al. 2010).
While per capita calorie availability would be expected to
increase by 9.7 percent in South Asia by 2050 without climate
change, it is projected to decline by 7.6 percent below 2000 levels
with climate change. Taking CO2 fertilization into account, the
decline would be 4.3 percent compared to calorie availability
in 2000, which is still a significant change compared to the noclimate-change scenario. The proportion of malnourished children
is expected to be substantially reduced by the 2050s without
climate change. However, climate change is likely to partly offset
this reduction, as the number of malnourished children is expected
to increase by 7 million compared to the case without climate
change (Nelson et al. 2010).111

Impacts in Bangladesh
While the risks for South Asia emerge as quite serious, the risks
and impacts for Bangladesh are arguably amongst the highest in
the region. Yu et al. (2010) conducted a comprehensive assessment of future crop performance and consequences of production
losses for Bangladesh.

Yu et al. (2010) assess the impacts of climate change on four
different crops under 2.1°C, 1.8°C, and 1.6°C temperature increases
above pre-industrial levels in 2050.112 They also take into account
soil data, cultivar information, and agricultural management
practices in the CERES (Crop Environment Resources Synthesis)
model. The study accounts for temperature and precipitation
changes, flood damage, and CO2 fertilization for Aus (rice crop,
planted in April), Aman (rice crop, planted in July), Boro (rice
crop, planted in December), and wheat. Aman and Boro production areas represent 83 percent of the total cultivated area for
these four crops, Aus production areas represent 11.1 percent,
and wheat production areas represent 5.9 percent.
Yu et al. (2010) first estimate the impacts of climate change
without taking into account the effects of flooding on production.
They find that the Aus, Aman, and wheat yields are expected to
increase whereas Boro production is expected to decrease as the
Boro crop is more reactive to changes in temperature than changes
in precipitation. When river and coastal flooding are taken into
account, Aus and Aman crop production is expected to decrease.
Note that Boro and wheat production are not expected to be
affected by river or coastal flooding.
Yu et al. (2010) also evaluate the impact of coastal flooding
on the production of rice and wheat in Bangladesh. The authors
estimate the effects of floods on production using sea-level rise
projections under the scenarios B1 and A2 only. Table 5.3 displays
the sea-level rise values under the scenarios B1 and A2 used in this
study. Taking into account the number of days of submergence,
the relative plant height being submerged, and development stage
of the plant (from 10 days after planting to maturity), the authors
calculate the flood damage as a percentage of the yield reduction.
Values for yield reduction vary from 0 percent when floods submerge the plants to 25–50 percent of the mature plant height for
fewer than six days, to 100 percent when floods submerge more
than 75 percent of plant height for more than 15 days at any stage
of plant development.
Taking into account the impact of changes in temperature and
precipitation, the benefits of CO2 fertilization, mean changes in
floods and inundation, and rising sea levels, the authors estimate
that climate change will cause an approximately 80-million-ton
reduction in rice production from 2005–50, or about 3.9 percent
111 All estimates presented by Nelson et al. (2010) are based on the global agricul-

ture supply and demand model IMPACT 2009, which is linked to the biophysical
crop model DSSAT. Climate change projections are based on the NCAR and CSIRO
models and the A2 SRES emissions scenario (global-mean warming of about 1.8°C
above pre-industrial levels by 2050 globally). In this study, crop production growth
is determined by crop and input prices, exogenous rates of productivity growth and
area expansion, investments in irrigation, and water availability. Demand is a function of price, income, and population growth, and is composed of four categories of
commodity demand: food, feed, biofuels, feedstock, and other uses.
112 These temperature increases are based on the IPCC SRES A1B, A2, and B1 scenarios, respectively.

Figure 5.15: Median production change averaged across the climate change scenarios (A1B, A2, and B1) with and without
CO2 fertilization

5.0%

Boro with CO2

Aman without
Aus without
Boro without
Wheat without Aman with CO2
CO2 CO2 and without Aus with CO2 CO2 and without
Wheat with CO2
and with ﬂoods
CO2
CO2
and ﬂoods
ﬂoods
ﬂoods

0.0%

-5.0%

Yield change
% of
base period

-10.0%

1.3°C

-15.0%

1.7°C

2.9°C

-20.0%

-25.0%

This figure compares the integrated effects of all factors (climate change, CO2 fertilization, and planning) for each of the main crop types. Note that for Boro and wheat,
flooding does not affect production. These are compared with the cases excluding CO2 fertilization but including the effects of climate change.
Source: Data from Yu et al. (2010).

Table 5.3: Projected and estimated sea-level rise under B1 and
A2 scenarios from Yu et al. (2010), compared to the 2°C
and 4°C world projections in this report (see Chapter 5 on
“Regional Patterns of Climate Change”)
“Warming World” Scenario/Decade
2°C World
4°C World

2030s

2050s

2080s

IPCC SRES B1

5cm

8cm

15cm

RCP2.6

20cm

35cm

55cm

IPCC SRES A2

15cm

27cm

62cm

RCP8.5

20cm

35cm

75cm

annually113 (World Bank 2010a; Yu et al. 2010). With an annual
rice production of 51 million tons (2011 data based on FAO 2013),
this amount is almost equivalent to two years of current rice
production in Bangladesh. The results should probably be seen
as optimistic as the simulations include highly uncertain benefits
from CO2 fertilization (Yu et al. 2010).
Yu et al. (2010) estimate the discounted total economywide consequences of climate change at about $120 billion
134

between 2005–50, or $2.68 billion per year. This represents a
decline of 5.14 percent in the national GDP. In the scenario with
the most severe climate change impacts, however, GDP is expected
to decrease by about eight percent during the same period and
up to 12.2 percent between 2040–50. They also find that the
discounted total losses in agricultural GDP due to the combined
impacts of climate change would be approximately $25.8 billion,
or $0.57 billion per annum.

The Implications of Declining Food Production for
Poverty
The impacts of climate change on food prices, agricultural yields,
and production are expected to have direct implications for human
well-being. In particular, per capita calorie availability and child
113 Projected annual reduction losses over the 45-year period range from 4.3 percent

under the A2 scenarios to 3.6 percent under the B1 scenarios. GCM uncertainty
further widens the range of projections from 2–6.5 percent. The 16 GCMs applied
in this study for the two climate scenarios project a median warming of 1.6°C
above 1970–99 temperatures (approximately 2°C above pre-industrial levels) and
an increase of 4 percent in annual precipitation as well as greater seasonality in
Bangladesh by 2050 (World Bank, 2010a).

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

malnutrition, affecting long-term growth and health, may be
severely affected by climate change and its various effects on
the agricultural sector (Nelson et al. 2010). Furthermore, uneven
distribution of the impacts of climate change is expected to have
adverse effects on poverty reduction.
Hertel et al. (2010) show that, by 2030, poverty implications
due to rising food price in response to productivity shocks would
have the strongest adverse effects on a selected number of social
strata. In a low-productivity scenario, described as a world with
rapid temperature increases and crops highly sensitive to warming,
higher earnings result in declining poverty rates for self-employed
agricultural households. This is due to price increases following
production shocks. Non-agricultural urban households, in turn, are
expected to suffer the most negative impacts of food price increases.
As a result, the poverty rate of non-agricultural households in this
scenario rises by up to a third in Bangladesh.114

Human Impacts
Populations in the region are expected to experience further repercussions from the climatic risk factors outlined above. The human
impacts of climate change will be determined by the socioeconomic
context in which they occur. The following sections outline some
of these expected implications, drawing attention to how particular
groups in society, such as the poor, are the most vulnerable to the
threats posed by climate change.

Risks to Energy Supply
Sufficient energy supply is a major precondition for development,
and electricity shortages remain a major bottleneck for economic
growth in South Asian countries (ADB 2012). A lack of energy,
and poor infrastructure in general, deter private investment and
limit economic growth (Naswa and Garg 2011). Only 62 percent of
the South Asian population (including Afghanistan) has access to
electricity, including 62 percent in Pakistan, 66 percent in India,
41 percent in Bangladesh, 43 percent in Nepal, and 77 percent in Sri
Lanka; no data are available for Bhutan and the Maldives (2009 data;
World Bank 2013e). This indicates that there is still a major gap in
electricity supply to households—especially in rural areas.
As Table 5.4 shows, the two main sources of electricity in the
region are hydroelectric and thermoelectric power plants. Both
sources are expected to be affected by climate change.
The high proportion of electricity generation in South Asia
that requires a water supply points to the potential vulnerability
of the region’s electricity sector to changes in river flow and
in water temperature. Hydroelectricity is dependant only on
river runoff (Ebinger and Vergara 2011). Thermoelectricity, on
the other hand, is influenced by both river runoff and, more

Source: Adapted from” and then go one with World Bank (2013f); World Bank
(2013f); World Bank (2013g); World Bank (2013h); World Bank (2013i); World
Bank (2013j).

generally, the availability and temperature of water resources
(Van Vliet et al. 2012).

Hydroelectricity
India is currently planning large investments in hydropower to
close its energy gap and to provide the energy required for its
targeted 8–9 percent economic growth rate (Planning Commission,
2012a). This is in spite of the potential negative impacts on local
communities and river ecosystems (Sadoff and Muller 2009). The
major as yet unexploited hydropower potential lies in the Northeast
and Himalayan regions. As it is estimated that so far only 32 percent
of India’s hydropower potential, estimated at 149 GW, is being
utilized, India is planning to harness the estimated additional
capacity of 98,863 MW in the future (Planning Commission 2012a).
Substantial undeveloped potential for hydropower also exists in
other South Asian countries (Sadoff and Muller 2009). Nepal, for
example, utilizes only approximately 0.75 percent of its estimated
hydropower potential (Shrestha and Aryal 2010).
With the projected increasing variability of and long-term
decreases in river flow associated with climate change, electricity
generation via hydropower systems will become more difficult to
forecast. This uncertainty poses a major challenge for the design
and operation of hydropower plants. In Sri Lanka, for example,
where a large share of the electricity is generated from hydropower,
the multipurpose Mahaweli scheme supplies 29 percent of national
power generation and 23 percent of irrigation water. A projected
decrease in precipitation in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka may
cause competition for water across different sectors (Eriyagama,
Smakhtin, Chandrapala, and Fernando 2010).

Increasing siltation of river systems also poses a risk to
hydropower. India, for example, has already recorded many cases
of malfunctioning power turbines due to high levels of siltation
(Naswa and Garg 2011; Planning Commission 2012b). Yet another
climate-induced risk for hydropower systems is physical damage
due to landslides, floods, flash floods, glacial lake outbursts, and
other climate-related natural disasters (Eriksson et al. 2009; Naswa
and Garg 2011; Shrestha and Aryal 2010). Nepal (with 2,323 glacial lakes) and Bhutan (with 3,252 glacial lakes) are particularly
vulnerable to glacial lake outbursts. The glacial lake flood from
the Dig Tsho in Nepal in 1985, for example, destroyed 14 bridges
and caused approximately $1.5 million worth of damage to a small
hydropower plant (Ebi, Woodruff, Hildebrand, and Corvalan 2007);
it also affected a large area of cultivated land, houses, human
inhabitants, and livestock (Shrestha and Aryal 2010).
As resources for rebuilding damaged infrastructure tend to be
scarce and carry large opportunity costs, climate change may pose
an additional risk and, indeed, a possible deterrent to infrastructure
development in developing countries (Naswa and Garg 2011).

Thermal Power Generation
The primary source of vulnerability to a thermal power plant from
climate change is potential impacts on its cooling system as the full
efficiency of a plant depends on a constant supply of fresh water at
low temperatures (I. Khan, Chowdhury, Alam, Alam, and Afrin 2012).
Decreases in low flow and increases in temperature are the major
risk factors to electricity generation (Mcdermott and Nilsen 2011).
Heat waves and droughts may decrease the cooling capacity of
power plants and reduce power generation (I. Khan et al. 2012).
Studies quantifying the impacts of climate change on thermal
power generation in South Asia specifically are not available.
However, a study by Van Vliet et al. (2012) evaluates these impacts
in 2040 and 2080. They examine the effects of changes in river
temperatures and in river flows, and find that the capacity of power
plants could decrease 6.3–19 percent in Europe and 4.4–16 percent
in the United States over the period 2031–60 for temperature ranges
of 1.5–2.5°C. Other climate-related stressors may also affect electricity production in South Asia, including salinity intrusion due
to sea-level rise, which can disturb the normal functioning of the
cooling system; increasing intensity of tropical cyclones, which
can disrupt or damage power plants within coastal areas; and river
erosion, which can damage electricity generation infrastructures
on the banks of rivers (I. Khan et al. 2012).

Health Risks and Mortality
Climate change is also expected to have major health impacts in
South Asia, and it is the poor who are expected be affected most
severely. The projected health impacts of climate change in South
Asia include malnutrition and such related health disorders as
136

child stunting, an increased prevalence of vector-borne and diarrheal diseases, and an increased number of deaths and injuries
as a consequence of extreme weather events (Markandya and
Chiabai 2009; Pandey 2010).

Childhood Stunting
Climate change is expected to negatively affect food production (see
Chapter 5 on “Agricultural Production”), and may therefore have
direct implications for malnutrition and undernutrition—increasing
the risk of both poor health and rising death rates (Lloyd, Kovats,
and Chalabi 2011). The potential impact of climate change on
childhood stunting, an indicator measuring undernourishment, is
estimated by Lloyd, Kovats, and Chalabi (2011). At present, more
than 31 percent of children under the age of five in South Asia are
underweight (2011 data based on World Bank 2013n).
Using estimates of changes in calorie availability attributable to
climate change, and particularly to its impact on crop production,
Lloyd et al. (2011) estimate that climate change may lead to a 62
percent increase in severe childhood stunting and a 29 percent
increase in moderate stunting in South Asia by 2050 for a warming
of approximately 2°C above pre-industrial levels.115 As the model
is based on the assumption that within-country food distribution
remains at baseline levels, it would appear that better distribution
could to some extent mitigate the projected increase in childhood
stunting.

Diarrheal and Vector-Borne Diseases
Diarrhea is at present a major cause for child mortality in Asia and
the Pacific, with 13.1 percent of all deaths under age five in the
region caused by diarrhea (2008 data from ESCAP 2011). Pandey
(2010) investigates the impact of climate change on the incidence
of diarrheal disease in South Asia and finds a declining trend in the
incidence of the disease but an increase of 6 percent by 2030 (and
an increase of 1.4 percent by 2050) in the relative risk of disease
from the baseline, compared to an average increase across the
world of 3 percent in 2030 (and 2 percent in 2050) (Pandey 2010).116
Noteworthy in this context is the finding by Pandey (2010) that,
in the absence of climate change, cases of diarrheal disease in
South Asia (including Afghanistan) would decrease earlier, as the
expected increase in income would allow South Asian countries
to invest in their health services.
115 The estimates are based on the climate models NCAR and CSIRO, which

were forced by the A2 SRES emissions scenario (ca. 1.8°C above pre-industrial
by 2050 globally). By 2050, the average increases in maximum temperature over land
are projected as 1.9°C with the NCAR and 1.2°C with the CSIRO model, compared
to a 1950–2000 reference scenario (Lloyd et al. 2011).
116 This study is based on two GCMs, NCAR, the colder and drier CSIRO model, and
the A2 scenarios (global-mean warming about 1.2°C by 2030 and 1.8°C by 2050 above
pre-industrial levels). For establishing the baseline incidence of these diseases (for 2010,
2030, and 2050), the author uses WHO projections. Population estimates are based
on UN projections, and GDP estimates are based on an average of integrated models.

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

Climate change is expected to affect the distribution of malaria
in the region, causing it to spread into areas at the margins of
the current distribution where colder climates had previously
limited transmission of the vector-borne disease (Ebi et al. 2007).
Pandey (2010) finds that the relative risk of malaria in South Asia
is projected to increase by 5 percent in 2030 (174,000 additional
incidents) and 4.3 percent in 2050 (116,000 additional incidents)
in the wetter scenario (NCAR). The drier scenario (CSIRO) does
not project an increase in risk; this may be because calculations of
the relative risk of malaria consider the geographical distribution
and not the extended duration of the malarial transmission season
(Pandey 2010). As in the case of diarrheal disease, malaria cases
are projected to significantly decrease in the absence of climate
change (from 4 million cases in 2030 to 3 million cases in 2050).
Salinity intrusion into freshwater resources adds another health
risk. About 20 million people in the coastal areas of Bangladesh
are already affected by salinity in their drinking water. With rising sea levels and more intense cyclones and storm surges, the
contamination of groundwater and surface water is expected to
intensify. Contamination of drinking water by saltwater intrusion
may cause an increasing number of cases of diarrhea. Cholera
outbreaks may also become more frequent as the bacterium that
causes cholera, vibrio cholerae, survives longer in saline water
(A. E. Khan, Xun, Ahsan, and Vineis 2011; A. E. Khan, Ireson, et
al. 2011). Salinity is particularly problematic in the dry season,
when salinity in rivers and groundwater is significantly higher
due to less rain and higher upstream freshwater withdrawal. It is
expected to be further aggravated by climate-change-induced sealevel rise, reduced river flow, and decreased dry season rainfall.
A study conducted in the Dacope sub-district in Bangladesh found
that the population in the area consumed 5–16g of sodium per day
from drinking water alone in the dry season, which is significantly
higher than the 2g of dietary sodium intake per day recommended
by WHO and FAO. There is strong evidence that higher salt intake
causes high blood pressure. Hypertension in pregnancy, which is
found to be 12 percent higher in the dry season compared to the
wet season in Dacope, also has adverse effects on maternal and
fetal health, including impaired liver function, intrauterine growth
retardation, and preterm birth (A. E. Khan, Ireson, et al. 2011).

The Effects of Extreme Weather Events
In South Asia, unusually high temperatures pose health threats
associated with high mortality. This is particularly so for rural
populations, the elderly, and outdoor workers. The most common responses to high average temperatures and consecutive hot
days are thirst, dizziness, fatigue, fainting, nausea, vomiting and
headaches. If symptoms are unrecognized and untreated, heat
exhaustion can cause heatstroke and, in severe cases, death. In
Andhra Pradesh, India, for example, heat waves caused 3,000 deaths
in 2003 (Ministry of Environment and Forests 2012). In May 2002,

temperatures increased to almost 51°C in Andhra Pradesh, leading
to more than 1,000 deaths in a single week. This was the highest one-week death toll due to extreme heat in Indian history. In
recent years, the death toll as a consequence of heat waves has
also increased continuously in the Indian states of Rajasthan,
Gujarat, Bihar, and Punjab (Lal 2011).
In their global review, Hajat and Kosatky (2010) find that
increasing population density, lower city gross domestic product,
and an increasing proportion of people aged 65 or older were all
independently linked to increased rates of heat-related mortality.
It is also clear that air pollution, which is a considerable problem
in South Asia, interacts with high temperatures and heat waves
to increase fatalities.
Most studies of heat-related mortality to date have been
conducted for cities in developed countries, with relatively few
published on developing country cities and regions (Hajat and
Kosatky 2010). Cities such as New Delhi, however, exhibit a significant response to warming above identified heat thresholds. One
recent review found a 4-percent increase in heat-related mortality
per 1°C above the local heat threshold of 20°C (range of 2.8–5.1
°C) (McMichael et al. 2008).
A study by Takahashi, Honda, and Emori (2007) further
found that most South Asian countries are likely to experience
a very substantial increase in excess mortality due to heat stress
by the 2090s, based on a global mean warming for the 2090s
of about 3.3°C above pre-industrial levels under the SRES A1B
scenario and an estimated increase in the daily maximum temperature change over South Asia in the range of 2–3°C. A more
recent assessment, by Sillmann and Kharin (2012), based on the
CMIP5 models, projects an annual average maximum daily temperature increase in the summer months of approximately 4–6°C
by 2100 for the RCP 8.5 scenario. The implication may be that the
level of increased mortality reported by Takahashi et al. (2007)
could occur substantially earlier and at a lower level of global
mean warming (i.e., closer to 2°C) than estimated. Takahashi et
al. (2007) assume constant population densities. A further risk
factor for heat mortality is increasing urban population density.
While methodologies for predicting excess heat mortality are
still in their infancy, it is clear that even at present population
densities large rates of increase can be expected in India and other
parts of South Asia. The projections used in this report indicate a
substantial increase in the area of South Asia exposed to extreme
heat by as early as the 2020s and 2030s (1.5°C warming above
pre-industrial levels), which points to a significantly higher risk
of heat-related mortality than in the recent past.

The Effects of Tropical Cyclones
Although only 15 percent of all tropical cyclones affect South
Asia, India and Bangladesh alone account for 86 percent of global
deaths from cyclones. The high mortality risk is mainly due to high
137

population density in the region (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2012). Projected casualties for a 10-year return cyclone
in 2050 in Bangladesh are estimated to increase to 4,600 casualties
(for comparison, Cyclone Sidr caused 3,406 deaths), with as many
as 75,000 people projected to be injured (compared to 55,282 as
a result of Cyclone Sidr)(World Bank 2010d).117
Besides deaths and injuries, the main health effects of floods
and cyclones are expected to result from indirect consequences,
including disruptions to both the food supply and to access to
safe drinking water. An increased intensity of tropical cyclones
could therefore pose major stresses on emergency relief and food
aid in affected areas.

Population Movement
Migration, often undertaken as short-term labor migration, is a
common coping strategy for people living in disaster-affected or
degraded areas (World Bank 2010f). (See Chapter 3 on “Population
Movement” for more discussion on the mechanisms driving migration.) There is no consensus estimate of future migration patterns
resulting from climate-change-related risks, such as extreme weather
events and sea-level rise, and most estimates are highly speculative
(Gemenne 2011; World Bank 2010g). Nevertheless, the potential
for migration, including permanent relocation, is expected to be
heightened by climate change, and particularly by sea-level rise
and erosion. Inland migration of households and economic activity
has already been observed in Bangladesh, where exposed coastal
areas are characterized by lower population growth rates than the
rest of the country (World Bank 2010d). A sea-level rise of one
meter is expected to affect 13 million people in Bangladesh (World
Bank 2010d),118 although this would not necessarily imply that all
people affected would be permanently displaced (Gemenne 2011).
Hugo (2011) points out that migration occurs primarily within
national borders and that the main driver of migration is demographic change; environmental changes and other economic and
social factors often act as contributing causes. In the specific case
of flooding, however, environmental change is the predominant
cause of migration. Hugo (2011) identifies South Asia as a hotspot
for both population growth and future international migration as
a consequence of demographic changes, poverty, and the impacts
of climate change.

Conflict

water security of South Asia (P. K. Gautam 2012). The Indus and
the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Basins are South Asia’s major
transboundary river basins, and tensions among the riparian
countries over water use do occur.
In the context of declining quality and quantity of water supplies in these countries, increasing demand for water is already
causing tensions over water sharing (De Stefano et al. 2012; Uprety
and Salman 2011). Water management treaties are considered to be
potentially helpful in minimizing the risk of the eruption of such
conflicts (Bates et al. 2008; ESCAP 2011). There are bilateral water
treaties established for the Indus Basin (although Afghanistan, to
which 6 percent of the basin belongs, and China, to which 7 percent of the basin belongs, are not signatories), between India and
Bangladesh for the Ganges, and between India and Nepal for the
most important tributaries of the Ganges; there are, however, no
water treaties for the Brahmaputra (Uprety and Salman 2011).
It has been noted that China is absent as a party to the
above-mentioned treaties, though it is an important actor in the
management of the basins (De Stefano et al. 2012). Although
water-sharing treaties may not avert dissension, they often help
to solve disagreements in negotiation processes and to stabilize
relations (De Stefano et al. 2012).
Uprety and Salman (2011) indicate that sharing and managing
water resources in South Asia have become more complex due to
the high vulnerability of the region to climate change. Based on
the projections for water and food security presented above, it is
likely that the risk of conflicts over water resources may increase
with the severity of the impacts.

Conclusion
The key impacts that are expected to affect South Asia are summarized in Table 5.5, which shows how the nature and magnitude
of impacts vary across different levels of warming.
Many of the climatic risk factors that pose potential threats
to the population of the South Asian region are ultimately related
to changes in the hydrological regime; these would affect populations via changes to precipitation patterns and river flow. One of
the most immediate areas of impact resulting from changes in the
117 These projections assume no changes in casualty and injury rates compared to

Cyclone Sidr.
118 The World Bank (2010a) estimation of the number of people affected by a one

Although there is a lack of research on climate change and conflicts,
there is some evidence that climate change and related impacts
(e.g., water scarcity and food shortages) may increase the likelihood of conflicts (De Stefano et al. 2012; P. K. Gautam 2012).
A reduction in water availability from rivers, for example, could
cause resource-related conflicts and thereby further threaten the
138

meter sea-level rise in Bangladesh refers to Huq, Ali, and Rahman (1995), an article
published in 1995. More recent projections estimate that between 1.5 million people
(Dasgupta, Laplante, Meisner, Wheeler, and Yan 2008), and up to 1.540 million people
by 2070 could be affected by a one meter sea-level rise and increased storminess in
the coastal cities of Dhaka, Chittagong, and Khulna (Brecht, Dasgupta, Laplante, Murray, and Wheeler 2012). With a different methodology, Hanson et al. (2011) find that
approximately 17 million people could be exposed to 0.5 meter sea-level rise. More
details on the methodologies can be found in Chapter 4 on “Risks to Coastal Cities.”

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

hydrological regime is agriculture, which is highly dependent on
the regularity of monsoonal rainfall. Negative effects on crop yields
have already been observed in South Asia in recent decades. Should
this trend persist, substantial yield reductions can be expected in
the near and midterm.
The region’s already large population of poor people is particularly vulnerable to disruptions to agriculture, which could
undermine livelihoods dependent on the sector and cause food
price shocks. These same populations are likely to be faced with
challenges on a number of other fronts, including limited access
to safe drinking water and to electricity. The proportion of the
population with access to electricity is already limited in the region.
Efforts to expand power generation capacity could be affected by
climate change via changes in water availability, which would
affect both hydropower and thermoelectricity, and temperature
patterns, which could put pressure on the cooling systems of
thermoelectric power plants.
The risks to health associated with inadequate nutrition or
unsafe drinking water are significant: childhood stunting, transmission of water-borne diseases, and hypertension and other disorders
associated with excess salinity. Inundation of low-lying coastal
areas due to sea-level rise may also affect health via saltwater
intrusion. Other health threats are also associated with flooding,

heat waves, tropical cyclones, and other extreme events. Population
displacement, which already periodically occurs in flood-prone
areas, is likely to continue to result from severe flooding and other
extreme events.
Bangladesh is potentially a hotspot of impacts as it is projected
to be confronted by a combination of increasing challenges from
extreme river floods, more intense tropical cyclones, rising sea
levels, and extraordinary temperatures.
The cumulative threat posed by the risks associated with
climate change, often taking the form of excesses or scarcities of
water, would substantially weaken the resilience of poor populations in the region. While the vulnerability of South Asia’s large
and poor populations can be expected to be reduced in the future
by economic development and growth, projections indicate that
high levels of vulnerability are likely to persist. Many of the climate change impacts in the region, which appear quite severe
with relatively modest warming of 1.5–2°C, pose a significant
challenge to development. Major investments in infrastructure,
flood defense, and the development of high temperature and
drought resistant crop cultivars, and major improvements in
sustainability practices (e.g., in relation to groundwater extraction), would be needed to cope with the projected impacts under
this level of warming.

Decline in South Asian
monsoon rainfall since
the 1950s but increases in
frequency of most extreme
precipitation events

Change in rainfall uncertain

Change in rainfall highly
uncertain

About 5 percent increase in summer (wet
season) rainfall8

About 10 percent increase in
summer (wet season) rainfall.9 The
region stretching from the northwest coast to the southeast coast
of peninsular India is projected to
experience the highest percentage
(~30 percent) increase in annual
mean rainfall.
Winter (DJF) precipitation shows
a relative decrease in the central
India and north India regions
Intra-seasonal variability of monsoon rainfall increases by a mean
of about 10 percent across a set
of 10 CMIP5 models.10

Variability

Drought

Median 75 percent increase of
extreme wet day precipitation share
of the total annual precipitation

Median 20 percent increase
of extreme wet day precipitation share of the total annual
precipitation11

Category Four
Cyclone Sidr in 2004 exposed 3.45 million
Bangladeshis to flooding,16, causing crop losses
equal to about 2 percent
of the total annual production17 and economic
damages and total losses
of $1.7 billion (2.6 percent
of GDP)18

An additional19 7.8 million
people would be affected by
flooding higher than 100 cm in
Bangladesh as a consequence
of a 10-year return cyclone
in 2050; 9.7 million people
(3.5 million people in the baseline scenario) are projected to
be exposed to severe inundation of more than 3m under this
scenario.

In Bangladesh, a projected 27cm sea-level rise by 2050,
combined with a storm surge
induced by an average 10year return-period cyclone
such as Sidr, could inundate
an area 88 percent larger than
the area inundated by current
cyclonic storm surges20
Flooding
(combined
effects of river
flooding, sealevel rise and
storm surges)

Bangladesh

Mirza (2010) estimates the
flooded area could increase
by as much as 29 percent for
a 2.5°C increase in warming
above pre-industrial levels,
with the largest change in flood
depth and magnitude expected
to occur up to 2.5°C of warming.21
Hanson et al (2011) project
that 17 million people might be
exposed to 0.5m sea-level rise

At higher levels of
warming the rate of
increase in the extent of
mean flooded area per
degree of warming is
estimated to be lower22

A 100cm sea-level rise is expected to affect 1.5–17 million
people,13 million in Bangladesh
alone23
Brecht et al. (2012) estimate that
by 2070, approximately 1.5 million
people in coastal cities would be
affected by coastal floods.
Dasgupta et al. (2008) also project 1.5 million people affected by
floods
(continued on next page)

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

More intense tropical cyclones,
combined with sea-level rise,
would increase the depth and
risk of inundation from floods
and storm surges.

141

142
Risk/Impact
Kolkata

Observed Vulnerability
or Change

Around 1.5°C
(2030s1)

Kolkata is ranked among
the top ten cities in the
world in terms of exposure
to flooding.24

33 percent of the Kolkata
metropolitan area is projected to be exposed to
an inundation of more
than 0.25m in the event
of 100-year return-period
rainfall patterns by 2050.25

Around 2°C
(2040s)

Around 3°C
(2060s)

Around 4°C and Above
(2080s)

In Kolkata City, with its
much higher population density, the same
scenario is projected to
affect 41 percent of the
area and 47.4 percent of
the population in 2050
(compared to 38.5 percent
and 44.9 percent under
the baseline scenario)
Mumbai

Severe flooding
in 2005 caused 500 fatalities and an estimated
$1.7 billion in economic
damage. Mumbai is the
commercial and financial
hub of India and generates about 5 percent of
India’s GDP26

By the 2080s, the
likelihood of a 2005-like
extreme event could
more than double,
and the return period
could be reduced to
around 1-in–90 years.27
Direct economic damages, are estimated to
triple compared to the
present and increase
to up to $1,890 million due to climate
change only—without
taking population and
economic growth into
account
(continued on next page)

Mean flow increase of
about 65 percent by the 2080s,
with low flow increasing
by 30 percent and the high
flow increasing by 78 percent.28 When reductions in
glacial melt are accounted for,
very substantial reductions
in late spring and summer
flow29 could be likely

Mean flow increase
of about 65 percent
by the 2080s, with
low flow increasing
by 30 percent and the
high flow increasing
by 78 percent.30 When
reductions in glacial
melt are accounted for,
very substantial reductions in late spring and
summer flow31 could
be likely

Ganges

20 percent increase in runoff.32

20 percent increase in
runoff 32

Risk/Impact
River Runoff

Around 1.5°C
(2030s1)

Water
Availability

Overall

May experience extreme low flow
conditions less frequently in the
future.

Very substantial reductions in
late spring and summer flow.29
Mean flow of the GangesBrahmaputra increases by
only 4 percent, whereas the low
flow decreases by 13 percent
and high flow by 5 percent35

Brahmaputra

In India, gross per capita
water availability (including utilizable surface
water and replenishable
groundwater) is projected to decline from
around 1,820m3 per
year in 2001 to
about 1,140m3 per year
in 2050 due to population
growth alone37

Food water requirements in
India are projected to exceed
green water availability by more
than 150 percent, indicating the
country would be highly dependent on blue water (irrigation
water) agriculture production.

50 percent increase in runoff34

Significant increase in peak flow is
projected36
It is very likely that per
capita water availability in South Asia
will decrease by more
than 10 percent40

By 2050, water availability in
Pakistan and Nepal is projected
to be too low for self-sufficiency
in food production.38
Without adequate water storage facilities, the increase of
peak monsoon river flow would
not be usable for agricultural
productivity; increased peak
flow may also cause damage to
farmland due to river flooding39
(continued on next page)

S outh A sia : E xtremes of Water S carcity and Excess

Mean flow of the GangesBrahmaputra increases by
only 4 percent, whereas low
flow decreases by 13 percent
and high flow by 5 percent33

Around 4°C and Above
(2080s)

143

144
Risk/Impact
Groundwater
Recharge

Crop Production

Observed Vulnerability
or Change

Around 1.5°C
(2030s1)

Around 2°C
(2040s)

Around 3°C
(2060s)

Around 4°C and Above
(2080s)

Groundwater resources
already under stress41

Climate change is projected to further aggravate
groundwater stress42

Climate change is projected to
further aggravate groundwater
stress43

Climate change is
projected to further
aggravate groundwater
stress44

Climate change is projected to
further aggravate groundwater
stress45

Without climate change, overall
crop production is projected
to increase by about 60 percent. In per capita terms,
however, crop production
may not quite keep pace with
projected population increase.
Under climate change, and
assuming the CO2 fertilization effect does not increase
above present levels, overall
crop production is projected to
increase by about 12 percent
above 2000 levels, leading to
a significant projected decline
by about one third in per capita
crop production.46
Reductions in water availability
in the Indus, the Ganges, and
the Brahmaputra due in part to
loss of glacial melt water from
the Himalayas, may impact
food security. Using a scaling
approach, it has been estimated that more than 63 million
fewer people can be fed by
the river basins due to reduced
water availability47
(continued on next page)

Review shows that when
With increases in warmcases that include CO2 fer- ing above about 2°C above
tilization are excluded
pre-industrial levels, crop
significant yield losses
yields decrease regardless
may occur before 2°C
of potentially positive effects.
warming; if CO2 fertilization CO2 fertilization partly compenis effective with some adsates for the adverse effects of
aptation measures, yields
climate change
remain approximately
flat. Data suggests that
the effects of adaptation
measures and CO2 fertilization are stronger and
may compensate for the
adverse effects of climate
change under 2°C warming

All crops

Changes in monsoon
rainfall over India with less
frequent but more intense
rainfall in the recent past
(1966–2002) have contributed to reduced rice
yields,48 especially in rainfed areas. Droughts were
found to have more severe
impacts than extreme
precipitation events49

Health- and
Poverty-related
Issues

Malnutrition
and Childhood
Stunting

Present baseline
is 23 percent of children
under 5 moderately
stunted, and 19 percent
severely stunted48

Relative risk of malaria projected to increase
by 5 percent in 203051

Relative risk of malaria projected to increase by 5 percent
in 205052

Diarrheal
Disease

Relative risk of diarrheal disease
increases by 6 percent
by 2030 compared to
the 2010 baseline53

Relative risk of diarrheal
disease increases by 1.4 percent by 2050 compared to
the 2010 baseline54

New Delhi exhibits
a 4 percent increase in
heat-related mortality
per 1°C above the local
heat threshold of 20°C
(range of 2.8–5.1 percent/
C55)

Without climate change,
reductions in the percentage of
moderately stunted children is
projected to reduce to 11 percent, of severely stunted
to 3 percent, by 2050. With
climate change, these percentages increase to 14.6 percent
and about 5 percent respectively50

Malaria

Heat Waves
Vulnerability

Around 3°C
(2060s)

Most South Asian
countries are likely
to experience a very
substantial increase
in excess mortality
due to heat stress by
the 2090s56

Notes to Table 5.5
Years indicate the decade during which warming levels are exceeded in a
business-as-usual scenario, not in mitigation scenarios limiting warming to these
levels, or below, since in that case the year of exceeding would always be 2100,
or not at all.
2
Blunden, J. and D. S. Arndt (2012).
3
Under RCP2.6. Regional warming is somewhat less strong than that averaged
over the total global land area.
4
Consecutive days beyond the 90th percentile.
5
Sillmann and Kharin (2013).
6
Under RCP8.5. This is consistent with the CMIP3 projections (K. K. Kumar et
al. 2010) under the SRES-A2 scenario (leading to 4.1°C above pre-industrial
levels), with local temperature increases exceeding 4°C for Northern India.
7
Sillmann and Kharin (2013).
8
The latest generation of models (CMIP5) projects an overall increase of
approximately 2.3 percent per degree warming for summer monsoon rainfall
(Menon et al., 2013)
9
Menon et al. (2013); Jourdain, Gupta, Taschetto, et al., (2013).
10
Mean for RCP 8.5 of 10 models that best simulate the monsoon system
(Menon et al. 2013).
11
Sillmann and Kharin (2013).
12
Dai (2012).
13
Sillmann and Kharin (2013).
14
Above 1880 estimated global mean sea level.
15
For a scenario in which warming peaks above 1.5°C around the 2050s and
drops below 1.5°C by 2100. Due to the slow response of oceans and ice sheets,
the sea-level response is similar to a 2°C scenario during the 21st century; it
deviates from it after 2100.
16
World Bank (2010a).
17
FAO (2013).
18
Wassmann et al. (2009); World Bank (2010a).
19
In comparison to the no-climate change baseline scenario.
20
World Bank (2010a). Based on the assumption that landfall occurs during high
tide and that wind speed increases by 10 percent compared to Cyclone Sidr.
21
Mirza (2010).
22
Mirza (2010).
23
World Bank (2010b) estimation of 13 million people in Bangladesh affected
by 100cm SLR in Bangladesh refers to Huq, Ali, and Rahman (1995), an article
published in 1995.
24
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2012); UN-HABITAT (2010);
World Bank (2011b). Roughly a third of the total population of the metropolitan
area of 15.5 million (2010 data; UN-HABITAT 2010) live in slums, which
significantly increases the vulnerability of the population to these risk factors.
25
World Bank (2011b) uses A1F1 scenario for this study, corresponding
to a 2.2°C warming by 2050 and 27cm SLR by 2050. Urban flooding as a
consequence of climate-change-induced increases in extreme precipitation,
sea-level rise, and storm surges. Total losses in 2050 are estimated at $6.8
billion, with residential property and other buildings and the health care
sector accounting for the largest damages. Due to data constraints, both total
damages and the additional losses due to increased flooding as a consequence
of climate change should be viewed as lower-bound estimates (World Bank
2011).
26
Ranger et al. (2011). The flood forced the National Stock Exchange to close,
and automated teller machine banking systems throughout large parts of the
whole country stopped working; this demonstrated how critical infrastructure
1

Global Projections of Sectoral and
Inter-sectoral Impacts and Risks
Climate change may strongly alter the conditions for human and biological systems over the coming decades, as described
by the IPCC (2007). Climate effects can amplify each other, greatly increasing exposure and limiting options to respond,
making the consistent assessment of parallel multisector impacts particularly important beyond detailed sectoral analyses
and sectoral interactions. In recent years the scientific community has made efforts to identify regions, sectors, and systems
that may be particularly at risk or exposed to particularly large or prominent climate changes. Often these have been termed
“hotspots”, although there is no common definition.
This chapter identifies hotspots of coinciding pressures from
the agriculture, water, ecosystems, and health (malaria) sectors at
different levels of global warming. It does so by synthesizing the
findings presented in Piontek et al. (accepted) obtained as part
of the ISI-MIP119 project; that made an initial attempt at defining
multisector hotspots or society-relevant sectors simultaneously
exposed to risks. It introduces a number of recent attempts to
identify different kinds of hotspots to help put the ISI-MIP results
into a broader context. These are further complemented by a review
of observed vulnerability hotspots to drought and tropical cyclone
mortality risk. This review helps gain an appreciation of factors of
vulnerability that are not included within the ISI-MIP framework
but that are known to pose severe risks in the future under climate change. It also allows the systematic comparison of impacts
within a number of sectors for different levels of global warming.
The methodology for multisectoral exposure hotspots for climate
projections from ISI-MIP models is first introduced (Chapter 6 on
“Multisectoral Exposure Hotspots for Climate Projections from
ISI-MIP Models”). Results are then presented for changes to water
availability (Chapter 6 on “Water Availability”; based on Schewe,
Heinke, Gerten, Haddeland et al.) and biome shifts (Chapter 6
on “Risk of Terrestrial Ecosystem Shifts”; based on Warszawski,
Friend, Ostberg, and Frieler n.d.). Furthermore, the ISI-MIP framework allows for a first estimate of cascading interactions between

impacts, presented in Chapter 6 on “Crop Production and Sector
Interactions” (based on Frieler, Müller, Elliott, Heinke et al. in
review). Overlaying impacts across four sectors (agriculture-crop
productivity, water resources, ecosystems, and health-malaria)
allows for identification of multisectoral hotspots (Chapter 6 on
“Regions Vulnerable to Multisector Pressures” based on Piontek et
al.), denoting vulnerability to impacts within these sectors. In order
to capture vulnerability to further impacts, hotspots of observed
tropical cyclone mortality complement the sectoral assessment.
Finally, non-linear and cascading impacts are discussed (Chapter 6
on “Non-linear and Cascading Impacts”).

Multisectoral Exposure Hotspots for
Climate Projections from ISI-MIP Models
The following analysis relies on biophysical climate change impacts
and examines the uncertainty across different climate and impact
models. It complements previous studies on hotspots based on
pure climate indicators, such as temperature and precipitation
and their variability, or with single models. The impacts in the
119 Note that the studies referenced—Warszawski et al., Frieler et al. Schewe et al.,

four sectors taken into account here represent important risk
multipliers for human development (UNDP 2007). It is likely that
overlapping effects increase risk as well as the challenge presented
for adaptation, especially in regions with low adaptive capacity.
Furthermore, impact interactions may amplify each impact (see
Chapter 6 on “Crop Production and Sector Interactions”), which
is not captured in the following analysis.
Hotspots are understood to be areas in which impacts in multiple
sectors fall outside their respective historical range—resulting in
significant multisectoral pressure at the regional level. Significant
pressure in this context means conditions being altered so much
that today’s extremes become the norm. Figure 6.1 shows the
steps for identifying multisectoral hotspots.120
For each sector, a representative indicator with societal relevance
is selected, together with a corresponding threshold for significant
change, owing to the structural differences between the sectors.
The focus is on changes resulting in additional stress for human
and biological systems as the basis for analyses of vulnerability,
leaving aside any positive effects climate change may have.

Emerging Hotspots in a 4°C World
The overall image that emerges from the hotspots assessments is
a world in which no region would be immune to climate impacts
in a 4°C world but some regions and people would be affected in
a disproportionately greater manner.
While the depicted pattern of vulnerability hotspots often
depends on the metric chosen to measure the impact exposure,
it is important to remember that the impacts are not projected to
increase in isolation from one another. As a result, maps of exposure
and vulnerability hotspots (e.g., Figure 6.8) should be understood
as complementary to each other—and certainly not exhaustive.

Figure 6.1: The method to derive multisectoral impact
hotspots. ∆GMT refers to change in global mean temperature
and G refers to the gamma-metric as described in Appendix 3
Four sectors:
1. Water
2. Agriculture
3. Biomes
4. Health
(Malaria)

Hotspots:
Regions of
multisectoral
pressure at
different levels
of ∆GMT

It is important to note that hotspot mapping based on projections inherit the uncertainty from the climate or impact modeling
exercise and are subject to the same limitations as the projections
themselves. Thus, in the agricultural sector, sensitivity thresholds
of crops are mostly not included, leading to a potentially overly
optimistic result. The uncertainty of the CO2 fertilization effect
further obscures any clarity in the global image.
Further research is therefore needed to better understand the
consequences of overlapping sectoral and other impacts. Particular
attention will need to be drawn to potential interactions between
impacts, as well as on including more relevant sectors and tying
analyses in with comprehensive vulnerability analyses. While
further research can reduce uncertainty, it should be clear that
uncertainty will never be eradicated.

Water Availability
Freshwater resources are of critical importance for human livelihoods. For the three regions analyzed in this report, large quantities—between 85–95 percent of the total freshwater withdrawal
(World Bank, 2013a)—are required for agriculture, while a lesser
share (1–4 percent) is currently required for industrial purposes
such as generating hydropower and cooling thermoelectric power
plants (Kummu, Ward, De Moel, and Varis, 2010; Wallace 2000).
Freshwater availability is a major limiting factor to food production and economic prosperity in many regions of the world (OKI
et al. 2001; Rijsberman 2006).
In the framework of ISI-MIP, a set of 11 global hydrological
models (GHMs), forced by five global climate models (General
Circulation Models [GCMs]), was used to simulate changes in
freshwater resources under climate change and population change
scenarios. This allows for an estimate of the effects of climate change
on water scarcity at a global scale and enables the assessment of
the degree of confidence in these estimates based on the spread
in results across both hydrological models and climate models.
Whether water is considered to be scarce in a given region is
determined by the amount of available water resources and by
the population’s demand for water. Water demand depends on
many factors that may differ from region to region, such as economic structure and land-use patterns, available technology and
infrastructure, and lifestyles (Rijsberman 2006). Most importantly,
it depends directly on the size of the regional population—more
people need more water. Given the current rates of population
growth around the world, and the fact that this growth is projected
to continue for the better part of the 21st century, water scarcity
will increase almost inevitably simply because of population
changes (Alcamo, Flörke, and Märker 2007; N. W. Arnell 2004; C.
120 See Appendix 3 for further information on methodology.

J. Vorosmarty 2000). Thus, when assessing the effect of climate
change on water scarcity, one has to realize that climate change
does not act on a stationary problem but on a trajectory of rapidly
changing boundary conditions.

Water Availability in Food Producing Units
The relative changes in water availability reflect adaptation challenges that may arise in the affected regions. Such challenges will
be harder to tackle if a region is affected by water shortages in an
absolute sense. A widely used, simplified indicator of water scarcity
is the amount of available water resources divided by the population in a given country (or region)—the so-called “water crowding
index” (M. Falkenmark et al. 2007; Malin Falkenmark, Lundqvist, and
Widstrand 1989). To estimate water resources per country, simply
summing up discharge would lead to individual water units being
counted multiple times. Using runoff, on the other hand, would not
account for flows of water between countries within a river basin.
Here, runoff in each basin is redistributed according to the pattern
of discharge in the basin (Gerten et al. 2011). The resulting “blue
water” resource can then be aggregated over a country or region.
To capture the baseline for future changes, the multi-model
median of present-day availability of blue-water resources is shown
in Figure 6.2, aggregated at the scale of food-producing units
(FPU; intersection of major river basins and geopolitical units).
Results given in this section are based on Schewe et al., in review.
Importantly, the scale of aggregation influences the resulting water
scarcity estimate considerably. For example, if water resources are
aggregated at the scale of food productivity units, one FPU within
a larger country may fall below a given water scarcity threshold,
while another does not. The same country as a whole, on the other
hand, may not appear water scarce if a lack of water resources
in one part of the country is balanced by abundant resources in
another. Thus, global estimates of present-day water scarcity are
usually higher when resources are aggregated on smaller scales
(for example, FPUs) rather than on a country-wide scale.
It is difficult to determine which scale is more appropriate to
assess actual water stress. While FPUs give a more detailed picture
and can highlight important differences within larger countries,
the country scale takes into account the transport of food (and
thus “virtual water”) from agricultural areas to population centers
within a country, and may be deemed more realistic in many
cases. Nonetheless, assessments of water availability should be
viewed as approximations.
Results show that corresponding to the regional distribution of
changes in water discharge, climate change is projected to diminish
per-capita water availability in large parts of North, South, and
Central America as well as in the Mediterranean, Middle East,
western and southern Africa, and Australia (Figure 6.3, left panel).
In a 4°C world, the decreases exceed 50 percent in many FPUs by

The color scale corresponds to the FAO categories of water scarcity
(below 1,000 m³/capita, red), water stress (orange), and water resources
vulnerability (yellow).

the end of the century, compared to decreases of 10–20 percent
under 2°C warming. The effects of projected population changes
are even larger than those of climate change, and the combination
of both leaves much of the world threatened by a severe reduction
in water availability (Figure 6.3, right panel). Moreover, the spread
across the multi-model ensemble is large; thus, more negative outcomes than reflected in the multi-model mean cannot be excluded.
These results illustrate that the effect of climate change on
water resources are regionally heterogeneous. Some countries are
expected to benefit from more abundant resources even after other
countries have become water-scarce because of shrinking resources.
In terms of the regions reviewed in this report, these results
broadly show:
• Sub-Saharan Africa: In the absence of population increase,
increased projected rainfall in East Africa would increase the
level of water availability, whereas in much of southern Africa
water availability per capita would decrease, with the patterns
increasing in strength with high levels of warming. With high
levels of warming, West Africa would also show a decrease
in water availability per capita. With projected population
increase, climate change reduces water resources per capita
(compared to the recent 20-year period) over most of Africa
in the order of 40–50 percent under both a 1.8°C and a 3.8°C
warming scenario by 2069–99.
• South Asia: Consistent with the expected increase in precipitation with warming and assuming a constant population, the
level of water availability per capita would increase in South
Asia. With the projected population increase factored in, however, a large decrease in water availability per capita in the
order of 20–30 percent is estimated under a 1.8°C warming
by 2069–99. A higher level of warming is projected to further
151

Figure 6.3: Multi-model median of the relative change in blue-water resources per capita, in 2069–99 relative to 1980–2010, for
RCP2.6 (top) and RCP8.5 (bottom)

RCP 2.6
Present population

Future population

RCP 8.5

In the left-hand side panels, population is assumed to remain constant at present-day (year 2000) levels, while in the right-hand side panels it is assumed to change
according to the SSP2 population scenario, which projects global population to peak near 10 billion just before the end of the century and includes changes in the
regional distribution of population.

increase average precipitation, and the decrease in water
availability per capita would be reduced to 10 to 20 percent
over much of South Asia.
• South East Asia: A very similar broad pattern to that described
in South Asia is exhibited in the results shown here. Under a
constant population, climate change is expected to increase
the average annual water availability per capita. Population
growth, however, puts water resources under pressure, decreasing water availability per capita by up to 50 percent by the
end of the century.

Review of Climate Model Projections for
Water Availability
The ISI-MIP results shown above apply a range of CMIP5 GCMs
and a set of hydrology models to produce the model intercomparison and median results (Schewe et al. in review.). Recent work
based on the earlier generation of climate models (CMIP3) and
one hydrology model121 shows similar overall results for the three
regions (Arnell 2013).
Of interest here are the levels of impacts and different levels of
warming. This work examines the change in population exposed
to increased water resources stress (using 1,000 m³ of water
152

per capita threshold) between a warming of just above 2°C and
scenarios reaching between 4°C and 5.6°C by 2100. In this work,
the SRES A1B population scenario was assumed, which has quite
different and lower regional population numbers compared to the
SSP2 population scenario used in the ISI-MIP analysis.122
Figure 6.4 shows the level of impact avoided due to limiting
warming to under 2°C compared to a warming of 4–5.6°C by 2100 by
indicating the percentage of the population that would be spared
the exposure to increased stress on water resources. Compared
to many other regions, the level of avoided impact in South Asia
is relatively low (in the order of 15–20 percent). South East Asia
shows very little, if any, avoided impacts against this metric.
Similarly, for East Africa, where increased rainfall is projected,
there are very few, if any, avoided impacts. For West Africa, where
models diverge substantially, the median of avoided impacts is
in the order of 50 percent, with a very wide range. In Southern
Africa, where the CMIP5 models seem to agree on a reduction
in rainfall, the CMIP3 models show a range from 0–100 percent

121 HADCM3, HadGEM1, ECHAM5, IPSL_CM4, CCSM3.1 (T47), CGCM3.1 (T63),

and CSIRO_MK3.0, and MacPDM hydrology model. Precipitation for the different
scenarios was pattern scaled.
122 In the SRES A1B population scenario, global population peaks at 8.7 billion
in 2050 and then decreases to about 7 billion in 2100 (equal to 2010 global population).

Figure 6.4: The percentage of impacts under a 4 to 5.6°C
warming avoided by limiting warming to just over 2°C
by 2100 for population exposed to increased water stress
(water availability below 1000 m³ per capita)

Figure 6.5: Fraction of land surface at risk of severe
ecosystem change as a function of global mean temperature
change for all ecosystems models, global climate models, and
emissions scenarios

Red dots show impacts avoided under HADCM3 GCM, the range from all seven
GCMs shown by seven of the vertical black lines and the horizontal black tick
marks indicate the other six models.
Source: N. W. Arnell et al. (2013).
Reprinted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: NATURE CLIMATE
CHANGE (Arnell et al., 2013, A global assessment of the effects of climate
policy on the impacts of climate change, Nature Climate Change), copyright
(2013). Further permission required for reuse.

The colors represent the different ecosystems models, which are also
horizontally separated for clarity. Results are collated in unit-degree bins, where
the temperature for a given year is the average over a 30-year window centered
on that year. A black horizontal line denotes the median in each bin. The grey
boxes span the 25th and 75th percentiles across the entire ensemble. The short,
horizontal stripes represent individual (annual) data points; the curves connect
the mean value per ecosystem model in each bin. The solid (dashed) curves
are for models with (without) dynamic vegetation composition changes. It is
important to note that changes are compared to the present baseline.

in avoided impacts. At the global level, limiting warming to 2°C
reduces the global population exposed to 20 percent.

Risk of Terrestrial Ecosystem Shifts
Climate change in the 21st century poses a large risk of change to
the Earth’s ecosystems: Shifting climatic boundaries trigger changes
to the biogeochemical functions and structures of ecosystems.
Such changing conditions would render it difficult for local plant
and animal species to survive in their current habitat.
The extent to which ecosystems will be affected by future
climate change depends on relative and absolute changes in the
local carbon and water cycles, which partly control the composition
of vegetation. Such shifts are likely to imply far-reaching transformations in the underlying system characteristics, such as species
composition (Heyder, Schaphoff, Gerten, and Lucht 2011) and
relationships among plants, herbivores, and pollinators (Mooney
et al. 2009); they are thus essential to understanding what constitutes “dangerous levels of global warming” with respect to
ecosystems. Feedback effects can further amplify these changes,
both by contributing directly to greenhouse gas emissions (Finzi
et al. 2011) and through accelerated shifts in productivity and
decomposition resulting from species loss (Hooper et al. 2012).

A unified metric—which aggregates information about changes to
the carbon stocks and fluxes, and to the water cycle and vegetation
composition across the global land surface—is used to quantify the
magnitude and uncertainty in the risk of these ecosystem changes
(with respect to 1980–2010 conditions) occurring at different levels of
global warming since pre-industrial times. The metric uses changes
in vegetation composition as an indicator of risk to underlying
plant and consumer communities. Both local (relative) and global
(absolute) changes in biogeochemical fluxes and stocks contribute
to the metric, as well as changes in the variability of carbon and
water fluxes and stocks as an indicator of ecosystem vulnerability.
The metric projects a risk of severe change for terrestrial ecosystems when very severe change is experienced in at least one of the
metric components, or moderate to severe change in all of them.
Marine ecosystems, which are not taken into account here, are
further outlined in Chapter 4 on “Coastal and Marine Ecosystems.”

123 Three of the seven models consider dynamic changes to vegetation composition,

and all models only consider natural vegetation, ignoring human-induced land-use
and land-cover changes. The response of models in terms of the unified metric is
shown to be reasonably predicted by changes in global mean temperatures. Note
that the ecosystems changes are with respect to 1980–2010 conditions.

The fraction of the global land surface at risk of severe ecosystem
change is shown in Figure 6.5 for all seven models as a function
of global mean temperature change above pre-industrial levels.123
Under 2°C warming, 3–7 percent of the Earth’s land surface is
projected to be at risk of severe ecosystem change, although there
is limited agreement among the models on which geographical
regions face the highest risk of change. The extent of regions at
risk of severe ecosystem change is projected to rise with changes
in temperature, reaching a median value of 30 percent of the land
surface under 4°C warming and increasing approximately four-fold
between 2°C and 3°C. The regions projected to face the highest
risk of severe ecosystem changes by 4°C include the tundra and
shrub lands of the Tibetan Plateau, the grasslands of eastern India,
the boreal forests of northern Canada and Russia, the savannah
region in the Horn of Africa, and the Amazon rainforest.
In some regions, projections of ecosystem changes vary
greatly across models, with the uncertainty arising mostly from
the ecosystem models themselves rather than from differences in
the projections of the future climate. Global aggregations, such as
reported here, should be treated cautiously, as they can obscure the
fact that these arise from significantly different spatial distributions
of change. Nonetheless, clear risks of biome shifts emerge when
looking at the global picture, which can serve as a backdrop for
more detailed assessments.

Review of Climate Model Projections for
Terrestrial Ecosystem Shifts
Projections of risk of biome changes in the Amazon by a majority of
the ecosystem models in the ISI-MIP study (Warszawski et al. n.d.)
arise in most cases because of increases in biomass over this region.
This is in agreement with studies considering 22 GCMs from the
CMIP3 database with a single ecosystem model (not used in ISI-MIP),
which projected biomass increases by 2100 between 14–35 percent
over 1980 levels (Huntingford et al. 2013). When considering only
projections in the reduction in areal extent of the climatological
niche for humid tropical forests, up to 75 percent (climate model
mean is 10 percent) of the Amazon is at risk (Zelazowski, Malhi,
Huntingford, Sitch, and Fisher 2011). Such discrepancies between
ecosystem models and climatological projections are already present
in the historical data, in particular with respect to the mechanisms
governing tree mortality resulting from drought and extreme heat.
For example, observations in the Amazon forest link severe drought
to extensive increases in tree mortality and subsequent biomass loss
(C. D. Allen et al. 2010). Even in regions not normally considered
to be water limited, observed increases in tree mortality suggest a
link to global temperature rises because of climate change (Allen
et al. 2010; Van Mantgem et al. 2009).
More generally, the recent emergence of a pattern of drought
and heat-induced tree mortality, together with high fire occurrence
154

and reduced resistance to pests globally points to a risk that is
not presently included in ecosystem models. These observations
point to potential for more rapid ecosystem changes than presently
projected in many regions (C. D. Allen et al. 2010). The loss and or
transformation of ecosystems would affect the services that they
provide to society, including provisioning (food and timber) and
such support services as soil and nutrient cycling, regulation of
water and atmospheric properties, and cultural values (Anderegg,
Kane, and Anderegg 2012).
The projected rate of ecosystem change is large in many
cases compared to the ability of species and systems to migrate
(Loarie et al. 2009). One measure of this, which has been termed
the “velocity of climate change,” represents the local horizontal
velocity of an ecosystem across the Earth´s surface needed to
maintain constant conditions suitable for that ecosystem. For the
tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannahs, and shrub lands
which are characteristic of much of Sub-Saharan Africa (see also
Chapter 3 on “Projected Ecosystem Changes”), an average velocity of 0.7 km per year is projected under approximately 3.6°C
warming by 2100. For the tropical and subtropical broadleaved
forest ecosystems characteristic of much of South and South East
Asia, the average velocity is about 0.3 km per year, but with a
wide range (Loarie et al. 2009). Under this level of warming, the
global mean velocity of all ecosystems is about 0.4 km per year;
whereas for a lower level of warming of approximately 2.6°C
by 2100, this rate of change is reduced to about 0.3 km per year.
As horizontal changes are measured, relatively slow velocity is
measured in mountainous regions in contrast to flatter areas. For
some species, however, such shifts may not be possible, putting
them at risk of extinction (La Sorte and Jetz 2010).
Under future warming, regions are expected to be subject
to extreme or unprecedented heat extremes (see also Chapter 2
on “Projected Changes in Heat Extremes”). (Beaumont et al.
(2011) measure the extent to which eco-regions, which have been
classified as exceptional in terms of biodiversity, are expected
to be exposed to extreme temperatures. They find that, by 2100,
86 percent of terrestrial and 83 percent of freshwater eco-regions
are projected to experience extreme temperatures on a regular
basis, to which they are not adapted (see Figure 6.6).
In conclusion, the state-of-the-art models of global ecosystems
project an increasing risk of severe terrestrial ecosystem change
with increasing global mean temperature. The area affected
increases rapidly with warming. The affected surface increases
almost four-fold between warming levels of 2°C and 3°C. The most
extensively affected regions lie in the northern latitudes, where
current climate conditions would find no analogue in a warmer
world. These changes, resulting in shifts in the variability and
mean values of carbon and water stock and fluxes and, in some
cases, vegetation composition, would pose a major challenge to
the survival of plant and animal species in their current habitat.

Figure 6.6: The proportion of eco-regions projected to
regularly experience monthly climatic conditions that were
Terrestrial ecoregions
considered extreme in the period 1961–90

% of ecoregions

experiencing extreme temperature change

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

1

1.5

2
Global mean warming

2.5

3

Source: based on (Beaumont et al. 2011)

Crop Production and Sector Interactions
Population increases and diet changes because of economic development are expected to impose large pressures on the world’s
food production system. Meeting future demand for food requires
substantially improving yields globally as well as coping with pressures from climate change, including changes in water availability.
There are many uncertainties in projecting both future crop
yields and total production. One of the important unresolved issues
is the CO2 fertilization effect on crops. As atmospheric CO2 concentrations rise, the CO2 fertilization effect may increase the rate
of photosynthesis and water use efficiency of plants, thereby
producing increases in grain mass and number; this may offset
to some extent the negative impacts of climate change (see Laux
et al. 2010 and Liu et al. 2008). Projections of crop yield and total
crop production vary quite significantly depending on whether the
potential CO2 fertilization effect is accounted for. As is shown in
the work of Müller, Bondeau, Popp, and Waha (2010), the sign of
crop yield changes (that is, whether they are positive or negative)
with climate change may be determined by the presence or absence
of the CO2 fertilization effect. Their work estimates the effects of
climate change with and without CO2 fertilization on major crops
(wheat, rice, maize, millet, field pea, sugar beet, sweet potato,
soybean, groundnut, sunflower, and rapeseed) in different regions.124
Uncertainty surrounding the CO2 fertilization effect remains,
however, meaning that the extent to which the CO2 fertilization
effect could counteract potential crop yield reductions associated
with climatic impacts is uncertain. This is problematic for risk
assessments in the agricultural sector. When compared with the
results from the free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiments, the

fertilization effects used in various models appear to be overestimated (e.g., P. Krishnan, Swain, Chandra Bhaskar, Nayak, and
Dash 2007; Long et al. 2005). Further, the C4 crops, including
maize, sorghum, and pearl millet—among the dominant crops
in Africa—are not as sensitive to elevated carbon dioxide as the
C3 crops.125 Consequently, the benefits for many of the staple crops
of Sub-Saharan Africa are not expected to be as positive (Roudier
et al. 2011). A recent review of the experimental evidence for
CO2 fertilization indicates that there may be a tendency in crop
models to overestimate the benefits for C4 crops, which appear
more likely to benefit in times of drought (Leakey 2009).
Although, in CO2 fertilization experiments, the grain mass,
or grain number of C3 crops generally increases, the protein concentration of grains decreases, particularly in wheat, barley, rice,
and potatoes (e.g., Taub, Miller, & Allen, 2008). In other words,
under sustained CO2 fertilization the nutritional value of grain per
unit of mass decreases. A recent statistical meta-analysis (Pleijel
and Uddling 2012) of 57 CO2 fertilization experiments on wheat
shows that if other limiting factors prevent CO2 fertilization from
enhancing grain mass, or number, the diluting effect of enhanced
CO2 on protein content still operates, hence effectively decreasing
the total nutritional value of wheat harvests.
The IPCC AR4 found that in the tropical regions a warming
of 1–2°C locally could have significant negative yield impacts on
major cereal crops, whereas in the higher latitudes in temperate
regions there could be small positive benefits on rainfed crop yields
for a 1–3°C local warming. Research published since has tended to
confirm the picture of a significant negative yield potential in the
tropical regions, with observed negative effects of climate change
on crops in South Asia (David B. Lobell, Sibley, and Ivan OrtizMonasterio 2012), Africa (David B Lobell, Bänziger, Magorokosho,
and Vivek 2011; Schlenker and Lobell 2010) and the United States
(Schlenker and Roberts 2009) and concerns that yield benefits
may not materialize in temperate regions (Asseng, Foster, and
Turner 2011). In particular, the effects of high temperature on
crop yields have become more evident, as has the understanding
that the projected global warming over the 21st century is likely
to lead to growing seasonal temperatures exceeding the hottest
presently on record. Battisti and Naylor (2009) argue that these
factors indicate a significant risk that stress on crops and livestock

124 For their projections, the authors apply three SRES scenarios (A1B, A2, and

B1 leading to a global-mean warming of 2.1°C, 1.8°C, and 1.6°C above pre-industrial
levels by 2050) and five GCMs, and compare the period 1996–2005 to 2046–55.
125 C3 plants include more than 85 percent of plants on Earth (e.g. most trees, wheat,
and rice) and respond well to moist conditions and to additional carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere. C4 plants (for example, sugarcane) are more efficient in water and
energy use and out perform C3 plants in hot and dry conditions. C3 and C4 plants
differ in the way they assimilate CO2 into their system to perform photosynthesis.
During the first steps in CO2 assimilation, C3 plants form a pair of three carbon-atom
molecules. C4 plants, on the other hand, initially form four carbon-atom molecules.

production will become global in character, making it extremely
challenging to balance growing food demand.
The scope of the potential risk can be seen in the results of a
recent projection of global average crop yields for maize, soya bean,
and wheat by 2050 (Deryng, Sacks, Barford, and Ramankutty 2011).
Including adaptation measures, the range of reductions for maize
is –6 to –18 percent, for soya bean is –12 to –26 percent, and for
spring wheat is –4 to –10 percent, excluding the CO2 fertilization
effect. Losses are larger when adaptation options are not included.
A recent review of the literature by J. Knox, Hess, Daccache, and
Wheeler (2012) indicates significant risks of yield reductions in Africa,
with the mean changes being –17 percent for wheat, –5 percent for
maize, –15 percent for sorghum, and –10 percent for millet. For South
Asia, mean production is –16 percent for maize and –11 percent for
sorghum. Knox et al. (2012) find no mean change in the literature
for rice. However, analysis by Masutomi, Takahashi, Harasawa, and
Matsuoka (2009) points to mean changes in Asia for rice yields of
between –5 and –9 percent in the 2050s without CO2 fertilization
and between +0.5 and –1.5 percent with CO2 fertilization.
To cope with the scale of these challenges (even if they are
significantly less than shown here) would require substantial
increases in crop productivity and yield potential. The recent
trend for crop yields, however, shows a worrying pattern where
substantial areas of crop-growing regions exhibit either no improvement, stagnation, or collapses in yield. Ray, Ramankutty, Mueller,
West, and Foley (2012) show that 24–39 percent of maize, rice,
wheat, and soya growing areas exhibited these problems. The top
three global rice producers—China, India, and Indonesia—have
substantial areas of cropland that are not exhibiting yield gains.
The same applies to wheat in China, India, and the United States.
Ray et al. (2012) argue that China and India are now “hotspots
of yield stagnation,” with more than a third of their major cropproducing regions not experiencing yield improvements.
Within ISI-MIP, climate-change-induced pressure on global
wheat, maize, rice, and soy production was analyzed on the
basis of simulations by seven global crop models assuming fixed
present day irrigation and land-use patterns (Portmann, Siebert,
& Döll, 2010). In a first step, runoff projections of 11 hydrological models were integrated to estimate the limits of production
increases allowing for extra irrigation but accounting for limited
availability of renewable irrigation water. In a second step, illustrative future land-use patterns, provided by the agro-economic
land-use model MAgPIE (Lotze-Campen et al., 2008; Schmitz et
al., 2012), were used to illustrate the negative side effects of the
increase in crop production on natural vegetation and carbon sinks
due to land use changes. To this end, simulations by seven global
biogeochemical models were integrated. Given this context, the
urgency of a multi-model assessment with regard to projections
of global crop production is evident and has been addressed by
the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project
156

(AgMIP; Rosenzweig et al. 2013), with results that will be forthcoming. Similarly, cross-sectoral assessments are needed, as potential
sectoral interactions can be expected.
Potential impact cascades are found that underline the critical
importance of cross-sectoral linkages when evaluating climate
change impacts and possible adaptation options. The combination of yield projections and biogeochemical and hydrological
simulations driven by the same climate projections provides a
first understanding of such interactions that need to be taken into
account in a comprehensive assessment of impacts at different
levels of warming. The impacts, which would not occur in isolation, are likely to amplify one another.

Regions Vulnerable to Multisector
Pressures
At 4°C above pre-industrial levels, the exposure to multisectoral
climate change impacts starts to emerge under the robustness
criteria. This means that the sectoral thresholds for severe changes
have been crossed at lower levels of global mean temperature.
At 5°C above pre-industrial levels, approximately 11 percent of
the global population (based on the 2000 population distribution126) is projected to be exposed to severe changes in conditions
resulting from climate change in at least two sectors (Figure 6.7,
bright colored bars).
At the global mean temperature levels in this study, no robust
overlap of the four sectors is seen. The fraction of the population
affected in the risk analysis is much higher, going up to 80 percent
at 4°C above pre-industrial levels, with the effects starting at 2°C
(Figure 6.7, light colored bars). There is a clear risk of an overlap
of all four sectors.
Multisectoral pressure hotspots are mapped based on pure
climate exposure (Figure 6.8, left panel) as well as on a simple
measure for vulnerability based on the number of sectors affected
and the degree of human development (Figure 6.8, right panel).
The grey-colored areas in the left panel are areas at risk. The
southern Amazon Basin, southern Europe, eastern Africa, and
the north of South Asia are high-exposure hotspots. The Amazon
and the East African highlands are particularly notable because
of their exposure to three overlapping sectors. Small regions in
Central America and western Africa are also affected. The area at
risk covers most of the inhabited area, highlighting how common
overlapping impacts could be and, therefore, their importance for
possible adaptation strategies.

126 The gridded population distribution for 2000 is based on UNPWWW data

(UNDESA 2010), scaled up to match the country totals of the Socio-Economic Pathways
database (http://secure.iiasa.ac.at/web-apps/ene/SspDb) using the NASA GPWv3
2010 gridded dataset (http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/collection/gpw-v3).

Figure 6.7: Fraction of global population (based on year
2000 population distribution), which is affected by multiple
pressures at a given level of GMT change above pre-industrial
levels

The bright-colored bars are based on the conservative robust estimates, the
light-colored bars on the risk analysis with low likelihood.

To get a simplified measure for vulnerability, the number
of overlapping exposed sectors is combined with the level of
human development as provided by the Human Development
Index (UNDP 2002), which is a simple proxy for adaptive capacity (Figure 6.8). Based on that vulnerability measure, all regions
in Sub-Saharan Africa affected by multisectoral pressures clearly
stand out as the most vulnerable areas (Figure 6.8, right panel).

Latin America, South Asia, and Eastern Europe are also vulnerable. Weighing it with population density would paint a slightly
different picture (hatched regions in the lower panels of Figure 6.8,
based on year 2000 population), with large numbers of people
potentially affected by multiple pressures in Europe and India. Of
note, the vulnerable regions extend over developing, emerging,
and developed economic areas.
These results are very conservative. While the thresholds are
defined based on historical observations within each sector, the
interactions between impacts in each sector are not taken into
account. Furthermore, the probability of overlap between the
sectors is restricted by the choice of sectors. Agricultural impacts
are only taken into account in currently harvested areas and
malaria impacts are very limited spatially. Taking into account
extreme events would possibly lead to the emergence of a very
different hotspot picture. Therefore, what follows is a discussion on the state of knowledge on vulnerability to a subset of
extreme events.

Regions with Greater Levels of Aggregate
Climate Change
Climate change occurs in many different ways. Increases in mean
temperature or changes in annual precipitation as well as seasonal
changes, changes in variability, and changes in the frequency of

Figure 6.8: Maps of exposure (left panel) and vulnerability (right panel, defined as the overlap of exposure and human
development level as shown in the table) to parallel multisectoral pressures in 2100

Grey regions in the left panel show areas at risk of multisectoral pressure, if conservative assumptions are relaxed (see Appendix 3 for Method). Vulnerability (right) is a
combination of number of sectors affected and level of human development as measured by the year 2000 Human Development Index (UNDP 2002). Hatched regions
are regions with very high population density (year 2000), which is expected to act as an additional pressure.

certain kinds of extremes all affect the way in which impacts are
expected to unfold and be felt. A region with the largest change
in average annual temperature may not be the one with the most
overall impact, or the annual average temperature change may
not be as significant as other effects, such as seasonal changes. To
capture this complexity, Diffenbaugh and Giorgi (2012) used the
new CMIP5 global climate models, applying seven climate indicators from each of the four seasons to generate a 28-dimensional
measure of climate change.127
The picture that emerges is of an increasingly strong change
of climatic variables with greater levels of global mean warming.

The greater global warming is, the larger the difference between
the present climate and the aggregated climate change metric—
in other words, the larger the overall effects of climate change
(Figure 6.9). This analysis indicates a strong intensification of
climate change at levels of warming above 2°C above pre-industrial

127 Diffenbaugh and Giorgi (2012) considered land grid points north of 60° southern

latitude. To calculate the change in each climate indicator, each one is first normalized to the maximum global absolute value in the 2080–99 period for the highest
scenario (RCP 8.5), and then the standard Euclidean distance between each of
the 28 dimensions and the base period is calculated.

Figure 6.9: Relative level of aggregate climate change between the 1986–2005 base period and three different 20 year periods
in the 21st-century

levels. It is also clear that some regions begin to show strong
signs of overall change at lower levels of global mean warming
than others. In terms of the regions studied in this report, much
of Africa stands out: West Africa, the Sahel, and Southern Africa
emerge consistently with relatively high levels of aggregate climate
change. South Asia and South East Asia show moderate to high
levels of climate change above 1.5°C compared to more northerly
and southerly regions.

Vulnerability Hotspots for Wheat
and Maize
Fraser et al. (2012) identify hotspots for wheat and maize based
on a comparison of regions subject to increasing exposure to yield
decreases that are predicted to experience declining adaptive capacity. Where these regions overlap, a hotspot is identified for the time
period studied: the 2050s and 2080s. They identify five wheat hotspots
(southeastern United States, southeastern South America, northeast
Mediterranean region, and parts of central Asia). For maize, three
hotspots are found: southeastern South America, parts of southern
Africa, and the northeastern Mediterranean. This study uses only
one climate model and one hydrology model, limiting the ability to
understand the uncertainty of climate model and hydrology model
projections in identifying regions at risk. It should be noted that
maize is particularly important in Southern Africa.

Vulnerability Hotspots for Drought
and Tropical Cyclones
Droughts and tropical cyclones have been among the most severe
physical risk factors that are projected to increase with climate
change, and the severity and distribution of these impacts may
change in the future. Looking at impacts from past occurrences
illustrates regional vulnerabilities that could be amplified with
increasing exposure in the future.
Vulnerability hotspots related to droughts have in the past
been highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, with exceptions in southern
Africa (Figure 6.10). Much of South Asia and South East Asia
also show high levels of vulnerability. It should be noted that the
analysis is based only on drought-related mortality. Impacts on
agricultural productivity (as have been observed during the Russian drought in 2010 and the American (U.S.) drought in 2012) are
not included here.
Taking into account observed vulnerability to tropical
cyclones, the East and South East Asian coasts, as well as the
eastern North American and Central American coasts, emerge
as vulnerability hotspots (Figure 6.11). Madagascar and the
densely populated deltaic regions of India and Bangladesh,
as well as parts of the Pakistan coast, mark areas of extreme
vulnerability. As noted before, the hotspots are based on
observed events.

Figure 6.10: Hotspots of drought mortality risk, based on past observations. Regions marked in red (8th–10th deciles) mark
the 30 percent of land area that is most severely impacted

Risks are shown for year 2000 population levels (with exposure probabilities average over 1981–2000.) White areas are masked due to low population density or no
significant impact observed.
Source: Dilley et al. (2005).

Figure 6.11: Hotspots of cyclone mortality risk, based on past observations. Regions marked in red (8th–10th deciles) mark
the 30 percent of land area that is most severely impacted

Risks are shown for year 2000 population levels (with exposure probabilities average over 1981–2000.) White areas are masked due to low population density or no
significant impact observed.
Source: Dilley et al. (2005).

Implications for Poverty
Climate impacts can have negative effects on poverty reduction.
While the population´s vulnerability is determined by socioeconomic factors, increased exposure to climate impacts can have
adverse consequences for these very factors. It has been observed
that natural disasters, such as droughts, floods, or cyclones, have
direct and indirect impacts on household poverty—and in some
cases could even lead households into poverty traps.
A study assessing the impacts of a three-year long drought
in Ethiopia (1998–2000) and category 5 Hurricane Mitch in
Honduras found that these shocks have enduring effects on
poor households’ assets and recovery (Carter, Little, Mogues,
and Negatu 2007). The authors observed a critical differential
impact of cyclones on poorer households (representing a quartile
of the population). Before the occurrence of the disasters, it was
assessed that these poor households accumulated assets faster
than rich households. As a consequence, this faster accumulation led to a convergent growth path between poorer and richer
households. The authors found, however, that both slow and
sudden onset disasters slowed down poor households’ capacity
to accumulate assets.
Figure 6.12 illustrates the impacts of such shocks as cyclones
and droughts on the assets of two categories of households (rich
and poor). This simplified model only illustrates how climateinduced shocks could drive households into poverty traps.
160

Because of the consequences of the shocks, assets at the
household level significantly decrease; they later increase during the recovery period. For the poorer households, the decrease
in assets has the potential to lead them below the poverty trap
threshold, preventing households from recovering from the disaster. This figure only gives a schematic representation, however,
of the potential impacts of natural disasters on rich and poor
households.

Figure 6.12: Asset shocks and poverty traps

Awp represents the assets owned by the rich household; Abp, Asp, and Arp
represent the assets owned by the poor households, before the shock (Abp), after
the shock (Asp), and after the recovery period (Arp).
Source: Carter et al. (2007).
Reprinted from World Development, 35, Carter et al., Poverty Traps and Natural
Disasters in Ethiopia and Honduras, 835-856, Copyright (2007), with permission
from Elsevier. Further permission required for reuse.

Hallegatte and Przyluski (2010) find that these poverty traps
at the household level induced by natural disasters could lead to
poverty traps at the macroeconomic level. Poor countries’ limited
capacity to rebuild after disasters, long reconstruction periods,
the relatively large economic costs of natural disasters, reduced
accumulation of capital and infrastructure, and reduced economic
development contribute to amplifying the consequences of these
natural disasters. From a long-term perspective, this loop reduces
the capacity of a country to cope with the consequences of a
disaster. Furthermore, this feedback loop reduces the capacity of
developing countries to benefit from natural disasters through the
accelerated replacement of capital (Hallegatte and Dumas 2009)
after the occurrence of disaster as the damages from the disaster
exceed their capacity for reconstruction.

Non-linear and Cascading Impacts
In this report the risks of climate change for a number of major
sectors were examined within three regions at different levels
of global mean warming. While the attempt was made to draw
connections between sectors, the literature does not yet permit a
comprehensive assessment of the quantitative magnitude of these
risks to elucidate risks of multiple and/or cascading impacts which
occur on a similar timescale in the same geographical locations.
Nevertheless, one of the first studies of these risks indicates that
the proportion of the global population at risk from simultaneous,
multiple sectoral impacts increases rapidly with warming. By the
time warming reaches 4°C, more than 80 percent of the global
population is projected to be exposed to these kinds of risks (see
Chapter 6 on “Regions Vulnerable to Multisector Pressures”).
While adaptation measures may reduce some of these risks and/
or impacts, it is also clear that adaptation measures required
would need to be substantial, aggressive and beyond the scale of
anything presently contemplated, and occur simultaneously across
multiple sectors to significantly limit these damages.
There is also limited literature on non-linear effects and risks.
Potential tipping points and non-linearities due to the interactions
of impacts are mostly not yet included in available literature. The
tentative assessment presented here indicates the risk of such
interactions playing out in the focus regions of this report and
suggests a need for further research in this field.
In some cases of non-linear behavior observed in certain sectors, such as high-temperature thresholds for crop production,
response options are not readily available. For example crop cultivars do not presently exist for the high temperatures projected
at this level of warming in current crop growing regions in the
tropics and mid-latitudes.
To point the way to future work assessing the full range of
risks, it is useful to conclude this report with a brief set of examples

that illustrate the risk of non-linear and cascading impacts occurring around the world. The physical mechanisms and thresholds
associated with these risks are uncertain, but have been clearly
identified in the scientific literature.

Non-Linear Responses of the Earth System
• Sea-level rise. In this report the focus has been on sea-level rise
of up to a meter in the 21st-century. This excluded an assessment of faster rates, and of longer term, multi-meter sea-level
rise increases and what this might mean for the regions studied.
Disintegration of the West Antarctic ice sheet could raise sea levels
by 4–5 m over a number of centuries, and there is already evidence
that the ice sheet is responding rapidly to a warming ocean and
climate. Complete loss of the Greenland ice sheet over many
centuries to millennia would raise sea levels by 6–7 m. A recent
analysis estimates the warming threshold for the Greenland Ice
Sheet to irreversibly lose mass at 1.6°C global-mean temperature
increase above pre-industrial levels (range of 0.8°C – 3.2°C).
Already the damages projected for a 0.5 metre and 1 metre sea
level rise in the three regions are very substantial and very few
studies have examined the consequences of two, three or 5 m
sea-level rise over several centuries. Those that are based on
such assessments, however, show dramatic problems. In this
report Bangladesh was identified as a region facing multiple
simultaneous impacts for large vulnerable populations, due to
the combined effects of river floods, storm surges, extreme heat
and sea-level rises of up to a meter. Multi-meter sea level rise
would compound these risks and could pose an existential risk
to the country in coming centuries.
• Coral reefs. Recent studies suggest that with CO2 concentrations
corresponding to 2°C warming, the conditions that allow coral
reefs to flourish will cease to exist. This indicates a risk of an
abrupt transition, within a few decades, from rich coral reef
ecosystems to much simpler, less productive and less diverse
systems. These changes would lead to major threats to human
livelihoods and economic activities dependent upon these rich
marine ecosystems, in turn leading to the feedbacks in social
systems exacerbating risks and pressures in urban areas.
• Ecosystems in Sub-Saharan Africa. The complex interplay
of plant species in the African savannas and their different
sensitivities to fire regimes and changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations implies a potential tipping point from a C4 (grass)
to a C3 (woody plants) dominated state at the local scale. Such
a transition to a much less productive state, exacerbated by
already substantial pressures on natural systems in Africa,
would place enormous, negative pressure on many species
and threaten human livelihoods in the region.
• The Indian monsoon. Physically plausible mechanisms have
been proposed for a switch in the Indian monsoon, and changes
161

in the tropical atmosphere that could precipitate a transition of
the monsoon to a drier state are projected in the present generation of climate models. An abrupt change in the monsoon,
towards a drier, lower rainfall state, could precipitate a major
crisis in South Asia, as evidenced by the anomalous monsoon
of 2002, which caused the most serious drought in recent times,
with rainfall about 19 percent below the long term normal,
and food grain production reductions of about 10–15 percent
compared to the average of the preceding decade.

Non-linearity due to Threshold Behavior and Interactions

above the tolerance range would create non-optimum culture
conditions for these species and are expected to decrease
aquaculture yields. Such damages are expected to be contemporaneous in time with saltwater intrusion losses and
inundation of important rice growing regions in, for example
Vietnam, as well as loss of marine natural resources (Coral
reefs and pelagic fisheries) upon which people depend for
food, livelihoods and tourism income.
• Livestock production in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in
the case of small-scale livestock keeping in dryland areas, is
under pressure from multiple stressors. Heat and water stress,
reduced quantity and quality of forage and increasing prevalence of diseases have direct impacts on livestock. Changes
in the natural environment due to processes of desertification
and woody plant encroachment may further limit the carrying
capacity of the land. Traditional responses are narrowed where
diversification to crop farming may no longer be viable and
mobility to seek out water and forage is restricted by institutional factors. These stress factors compound one another,
placing a significantly greater pressure on affected farmers
than if impacts were felt in isolation.

• Crop yields. Non-linear reductions in crop yields have been
observed once high temperature thresholds are crossed for
many major crops including rice, wheat and maize in many
regions. Within the three regions studied temperatures already
approach upper limits in important food growing regions. Present crop models have not yet fully integrated the consequences
of these responses into projections, nor are high-temperature,
drought resistant crop cultivars available at present. When these
regional risks are put into the context of probable global crop
production risks due to high temperatures and drought, it is
clear that qualitatively new risks to regional and global food
security may be faced in the future that are little understood,
or quantified.

Cascading Impacts

• Aquaculture in South East Asia. Temperature tolerance
thresholds have been identified for important aquaculture
species farmed in South East Asia. More frequent temperatures

A framing question for this report was the consequence for
development of climate change. What emerges from the analyses
conducted here and the reviewed literature is a wide range of

Box 6.1: Emerging Vulnerability Clusters: the Urban Poor
The picture that emerges from the three regional analyses is of new clusters of vulnerability appearing in urban areas as urbanization rates
increase. Although the urbanization trend is driven by a host of factors, climate change is becoming an increasingly significant driver as it
places livelihoods in rural areas under mounting pressure.
However, there are risks associated with the observed and projected urbanization trends. The location of many cities in coastal areas
further means that a large and growing number of people are exposed to the impacts of sea-level rise. Similarly, health impacts of heat waves
are reportedly high in cities, where the built environment amplifies the warming effect.
Many impacts are expected to disproportionately affect the urban poor. The concentration of large populations in informal settlements,
where basic services and infrastructure tend to be lacking, is a considerable source of vulnerability. In such areas, people are highly exposed
to extreme weather events, such as storms and flooding. Furthermore, informal settlements often provide conditions particularly conducive to
the transmission of the vector and water borne diseases that are projected to become more prevalent with climate change. The urban poor,
as net buyers of food, have also been identified as the group most vulnerable to increases of food prices following production shocks and
declines.
There are multiple co-benefits to be gained from urban planning which takes into account the risks projected to accompany climate
change. Urban areas account for the largest proportions of global greenhouse gas emissions (UN Habitat, 2011) and hence a great potential
exists in these areas for mitigation of climate change. Similarly, careful urban planning can strongly increase human resilience to the impacts
of climate change. Efficient provision of basic services, which is central to meeting human development needs in urban areas, will assist large
communities to cope with the adverse effects associated with rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
Thus, while cities currently often concentrate vulnerability, future patterns of urbanization provide the opportunity to significantly increase
the resilience of urban populations.

risks. One cluster of impacts that needs to be highlighted is the
risk of negative feedbacks on poverty from climate shocks on poor
countries, leading to the potential for climate driven poverty traps
migration (see Box 6.1). Recent observational evidence indicates
that the poor countries that are most vulnerable to increases in
temperature show the least resilience to shocks of extremes. The
impacts of a three year long drought in Ethiopia (1998 2000), for
example or the Category Five Hurricane Mitch in Honduras have
been observed to have long-lasting effects on poverty. These
climate-related extreme events and natural disasters can overwhelm
a poor country’s ability to recover economically, reducing the
accumulation of capital and infrastructure, leading to a negative
economic feedback. This would reduce the capacity of developing
countries to economically benefit from natural disasters through
more rapid replacement of capital as the reconstruction capacity
is exceeded by the disaster damages.
Increases in climatic extremes of all kinds are projected for
the three regions studied: increased tropical cyclone intensity in
South East Asia, extreme heat waves and heat intensity in all
regions, increased drought in many regions, an increased risk of

flooding and consequent damages on agriculture and infrastructure
in many regions. Few studies have really integrated these risks
into projections of future economic growth and development for
these regions.
The analyses presented in this report show that there are
substantial risks to human development in the three regions
assessed and a consideration of the risks of non-linearity and
cascading impacts tends to amplify this picture. Impacts have
already begun to occur and in many cases are projected to be
severe under 1.5–2°C warming, depending upon the sector and
the region. As warming approaches 4°C, very severe impacts are
projected, affecting ever larger shares of the global population.
Critically the risk of transgressing thresholds and tipping points
within sectors and on vital human support systems increases
rapidly with higher levels of warming. While limiting warming
to 1.5 to 2°C does not eliminate risk and damage to many sectors and regions, it does create breathing space for adaptation
measures to limit damage and for populations to learn to cope
with the significant, inevitable damage that would occur even at
this level of change.

163

Appendixes

Appendix

1

Background Material on the Likelihood
of a 4°C and a 2°C World
4°C - Business-As-Usual Emission
Estimates
Recent independent estimates by an international consortium
of eight Integrated Assessment Modeling (IAM) research groups
investigated how the world can be expected to evolve under a wide
variety of climate policies (Kriegler et al. 2013; Riahi et al. 2013;
Schaeffer et al. 2013). One of the scenarios investigated is known
as the “business-as-usual” (BAU) pathway. In this scenario, which
is characterized by a lack of strong climate policies throughout
the 21st century, GDP (Kriegler et al. 2013) and population projections (UN 2010) continue to drive energy demand. Global energy
intensity roughly follows historical rates of improvements because
of the lack of targeted policies. Accordingly, greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise in the estimates of each respective research
group and follow an intermediate-to-high BAU path compared to
the earlier literature (Nakicenovic and Swart 2000; IPCC 2007a;
Rogelj et al. 2011; Riahi et al. 2012).
Recently, questions have been raised in the scientific literature about the validity of the high fossil fuel production outlooks
required for such high-emissions BAU scenarios (e.g., Höök et al.
2010). While these critiques, which infer a possible global peak in
fossil fuel availability, are not irrelevant, they mainly result from
a different interpretation of the availability of fossil fuels from
“reserves,” “estimated ultimately recoverable resources,” and
additional “unconventional” resources. The recent Global Energy
Assessment (Rogner et al. 2012) provides a discussion of this issue
and a detailed assessment of fossil fuel resources. It concludes that
enough fossil fuels will be available to satisfy future demand and
to continue on a very high emissions pathway (see the GEA-Supply
baseline in Riahi et al. 2012). This is in line with the RCP8.5 scenario

used in this report (see Box I below), which forms a basis for some
of the impacts studies in the rest of this report.

Temperature Changes Implied by
Business-As-Usual Emissions Estimates
To compute the global mean temperature increase implied by the
business-as-usual scenarios discussed above and in Box A1.1, the
authors run a reduced-complexity carbon cycle and climate model
in a probabilistic setup, which closely represents the uncertainty
assessments of the earth system’s response to increasing emissions.
Figure A1.1 below shows global mean temperature projections
above pre-industrial levels. In the left panel, the “best-estimate”128
projections (lines) are put in the context of carbon-cycle and climatesystem uncertainties (shaded areas). According to the RCP8.5 scenario, the best-estimate warming is approximately 5.2°C by 2100.
There is a 66 percent likelihood129 that emissions consistent with
RCP8.5 lead to a warming of 4.2–6.5°C, and a remaining 33 percent chance that warming would be either lower than 4.2°C or
higher than 6.5°C by 2100.
The eight BAU scenarios generated by the international
IAM research groups included here are on average slightly
lower than RCP8.5, with some scenarios above it. On average,

128 In this report, the authors speak of “best-estimate” to indicate the median esti-

mate, or projection, within an uncertainty distribution, that is, there is a 50-percent
probability that values lie below and an equal 50-percent probability that values lie
above the “best-estimate.”
129 A probability of greater than 66 percent is labeled “likely” in IPCC’s uncertainty
guidelines (Mastrandrea et al. 2010) adopted here.

these scenarios lead to warming projections close to those of
RCP8.5 and a medium chance that end-of-century temperature
rise exceeds 4°C (see Figure A1.1, right-hand panel). Across
all these scenarios, the median projections reach a warming
of 4.7°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100.130 This level is
achieved 10 years earlier in RCP8.5.
By contrast, the CAT reference scenario (see Box A1.1), used
in this report to derive the CAT Current Pledges scenario (Climate
Analytics et al. 2011), results in warming below the BAU median
across the IAM models, with only about 15 percent of climate
projections using the IAM results lying below the CAT Reference
BAU131(see Figure A.1, right-hand panel).

Thus, the most recent generation of energy-economic models
estimate emissions in the absence of further substantial policy

130 Note the uncertainty ranges in Figure 2.4: among the various other BAU scenarios,

about 30 percent reach a warming higher than RCP8.5 by 2100 (compare light-red
shaded with black line).
131 The lower emissions in the CAT Reference BAU scenario compared to the recent
BAU literature scenarios is explained by the fact that the CAT Reference BAU includes
more of the effects of currently implemented energy policies than the BAU scenarios
from the literature. This also explains why the reduction in future warming is stronger
between the multi-model Reference and Current Pledge scenarios than in the CAT
cases, since some policies required to achieve current pledges are already included
in the CAT Reference BAU (Figure 2.4).

Box A1.1 Emission Scenarios in this Report
To frame its assessment, this report uses four main scenarios that span the range between a lausible high emissions future—leading to endof-century warming exceeding 4°C with a high robability (ca. 85 percent)—and a feasible low emissions path, likely keeping temperature rise
to below 2°C (ca. 85 percent probability).
a. RCP8.5: A no-climate-policy baseline with comparatively high greenhouse gas emissions (Riahi et al. 2011), which is used by many studies that are being assessed for the upcoming IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). This scenario is also the underlying high emissions
scenario for impacts assessed in other parts of this report. In this report, the authors refer to the RCP8.5 as a 4°C world.
b. CAT Reference BAU: A lower reference BAU scenario that includes existing climate olicies, but not pledged emission reductions, as
estimated by Climate Action Tracker (Climate Analytics et al. 2011).
c. CAT Current Pledges: A scenario also incorporating reductions currently pledged internationally by countries, as assessed by the Climate
Action Tracker (Climate Analytics et al. 2011).
d. RCP2.6: A scenario that is representative of the literature on mitigation scenarios aiming to limit the increase of global mean temperature to 2°C
(Van Vuuren et al. 2011). Similar to RCP8.5, this emissions path is used by many studies that are being assessed for AR5 and is the underlying
low emissions scenario for impacts assessed in other parts of this report. In this report, the authors refer to the RCP2.6 as a 2°C world.
Without predicting what the future will bring, these scenarios are representations of distinct groups of plausible and possible futures that
society can decide to work toward. As such,

Lines show “best-estimate” (median) projections for each emission scenario, while shaded areas indicate the 66 percent uncertainty range. The shaded ranges
represent the uncertainties in how emissions are translated into atmospheric concentrations (carbon cycle uncertainty) and how the climate system responds to these
increased concentrations (climate system uncertainty). The right-hand panel shows projections of temperature increase for the scenarios assessed in this report in
the context of BAU projections from the recent Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) literature discussed in the text. The light-red shaded area indicates the 66 percent
uncertainty range around the median (red dashed line) of BAU projections from 10 IAMs.

168

B ackground M aterial on the L ikelihood of a 4°C and a 2°C W orld

action (business as usual), with the median projections reaching
a warming of 4.7°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100—with
a 40-percent chance of exceeding 5°C.

Probabilities
From a risk assessment point of view, the probability that specific
levels of warming are exceeded in the course of the 21st century is
of particular interest. The probabilistic uncertainty ranges of the
Simple Climate Model (SCM; see Box A 1.2) projections in this
report, as well as the spread in results of complex Atmosphere Ocean
General Circulation Models (AOGCMs), provide valuable information for this. For the four emission scenarios, Figure A1.2 shows
the gradually increasing probability of exceeding warming levels
of 3°C and 4°C. 4°C is “likely” (with a greater than 66-percent
chance) exceeded around 2080 for RCP8.5. Consistent with the
SCM, 80 percent of the AOGCMs project warming higher than 4°C
by the 2080–2100 period. For other scenarios, lower probabilities
of exceeding 4°C are found.
Figure A1.2 also shows that the CAT Reference BAU results
in a 40-percent probability of exceeding 4°C by the end of the
century, and still increasing thereafter. Recalling that the CAT
Reference BAU is situated at the low end of most recent reference BAU estimates from the literature and that real-world global
CO2 emissions continue to track along a high emission pathway
(Peters et al. 2013), the authors conclude that in the absence of
greenhouse gas mitigation efforts during the century, the likelihood is considerable that the world will be 4°C warmer by the
end of the century.
The results presented above are consistent with recently published literature. Newly published assessments of the recent trends
in the world’s energy system by the International Energy Agency

in its World Energy Outlook 2012 indicate global mean warming
above pre-industrial levels would approach 3.8°C by 2100. In this
assessment, there is a 40-percent chance of warming exceeding 4°C
by 2100 and a 10-percent chance of warming exceeding 5°C. The
updated UNEP Emissions Gap Assessment, released at the Climate
Convention Conference in Doha in December 2013, found that
present emission trends and pledges132 are consistent with emission
pathways that reach warming in the range of 3–5°C by 2100, with
global emissions estimated for 2020 closest to levels consistent
with a 3.5–4°C pathway.

Can Warming Be Held Below 2°C?
The previous section explained why it is still plausible that a highcarbon emissions future could lead to a considerable probability
that warming exceeds 4°C by the end of the century. The question
that now arises is whether the significant reduction in greenhouse
gas emissions required to hold the global temperature increase to
below 2°C is feasible. This section discusses some of the latest
scientific insights related to keeping warming to low levels.
First of all, most recent results with state-of-the-art AOGCMs
and SCMs show that under reference emissions temperatures
can exceed 2°C as early as the 2040s, but can also be held to
below 2°C relative to pre-industrial levels with a high probability if emissions are reduced significantly (see Box A1.2, Figures
A1.1, A1.2, and A1.3). This shows that, from a geophysical
point of view, limiting temperature increase to below 2°C is still
possible. Other assessments that take into account a large set of
scenarios from the literature come to the same conclusion with

The dashed line indicates the percentage of complex Atmosphere Ocean General Circulation Models (AOGCMs) and Earth-System Models (ESMs) as reported by the
CMIP5 program that exceeds these temperature thresholds around the year 2090 for the RCP8.5 scenario (zero for RCP2.6).

Box A1.2 Climate Projections and the Simple Climate Model (SCM)
This report uses the reduced-complexity carbon cycle and climate model MAGICC (Meinshausen et al. 2011a, 2011b) to compute estimates
of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and their climatic outcomes. MAGICC is the primary simple climate model that has been used
in past IPCC Assessment Reports and has been applied, further developed, and scientifically scrutinized for over two decades (Wigley and
Raper 1987, 1992, 2001, 2005). MAGICC is a simple climate model (SCM) that can closely emulate the large-scale behavior of much more
complex state-of-the-art Atmosphere Ocean General Circulation Models (AOGCMs) for a large range of scenarios.
AOGCMs and Earth-System Models (ESMs, AOGCMs with a coupled carbon cycle), are used to compute geographically explicit projections of a wide range of climate variables, such as temperature near the surface as well as higher up in the atmosphere or down in the ocean,
precipitation, winds, ocean currents, and so on. Because these models are very complex and operate on high spatial resolution and small
time steps, only a handful of emission scenarios can be run. For the IPCC’s upcoming Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), the Coupled Model
Intercomparison Project-Phase 5 (CMIP5 Taylor et al. 2012) has collected AOGCM and ESM output for the four new IPCC scenarios (RCPs—
Vuuren et al. 2011). These results form an important basis for the climate impact projections presented in much of this report. A subset of five
models from the CMIP5 project underlies the temperature and precipitation projections in the report.
The SCM MAGICC is used, however, to compute the global mean response of the carbon cycle and climate system for other scenarios
in this report. It is no substitute for AOGCMs, but provides a tool to make synthesized knowledge obtained with AOGCMs available for large
scenario numbers and at low computational cost.
Because of uncertainties in the carbon cycle and climate response of the earth system to increasing greenhouse gases, there is a range
in the expected temperature outcome (see Figure SPM.5 in IPCC 2007). To sample this uncertainty, the SCM MAGICC has here been used in a
probabilistic setup that, by running 600 simulations per scenarios, can closely match the assessment of carbon cycle and climate uncertainties
in the IPCC AR4 (Meinshausen et al. 2009). Furthermore, the temperature simulations are also constrained by observations of hemispherical temperatures and heat uptake. Detailed background to the model structure is provided by Meinshausen and Raper et al. (2011a). Figure A1.3 shows
the consistency of the global mean temperature response of the SCM with the state-of-the-art AOGCMs of the Coupled Model Intercomparison
Project-Phase 5 (CMIP5 Taylor et al. 2012) for both the lowest (RCP2.6) and the highest (RCP8.5) scenario (see also Box A1.1).

Figure A1.3 Projected global-mean temperature increase
relative to pre-industrial levels in 2081–2100 for the main
scenarios used in this report (see Box A1.1)

The SCM projections (blue, orange, red, and grey ranges) are compared to
simulations by complex AOGCMs and Earth-System Models (ESMs) as reported
by the CMIP5 project. Only for the RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios, comparison data
are available from CMIP5. For GCMs and ESMs, the black line indicates the mean
across all models that ran a particular scenario, thin black lines individual model
results, and the green shaded area a standard deviation above and below the mean.
The complex models were driven by prescribed greenhouse gas concentrations,
except for the“RCP8.5 emis” scenario, for which models were driven by emissions.
This scenario leads to somewhat higher warming because of feedbacks in the
carbon cycle, which is also the case for all of the SCM scenarios. Note that the
CMIP5 model ensemble was not designed to span the entire range of uncertainties
(cf., Tebaldi and Knutti 2007), yet shows projections for RCP8.5 ranging from as low
as 3°C to as high as 6.2°C because of structural differences in the models.

170

an SCM (Van Vuuren et al. 2008; Rogelj et al. 2011; UNEP 2012).
The one overarching feature of these scenarios is that they limit
the cumulative amount of global greenhouse gas emissions to a
given emissions budget (Meinshausen et al 2009); to not exceed
this budget, emissions start declining by 2020 in most of these
scenarios (Rogelj et al. 2011).
International climate policy has until now not managed to
curb global greenhouse gas emissions on such a declining path,
and recent inventories show emissions steadily on the rise (Peters
et al. 2013). However, recent high emission trends do not imply
high emissions forever (van Vuuren and Riahi 2008). Several
studies show that effective climate policies can substantially
influence the trend and bring emissions onto a feasible path in
line with a high probability of limiting warming to below 2°C
even after low short-term ambition (e.g., OECD 2012; Rogelj et
al. 2012a; UNEP 2012; van Vliet et al. 2012; Rogelj et al. 2013).
Choosing such a path would however imply higher overall costs,
higher technological dependency, and higher risks of missing the
climate objective (Rogelj et al. 2012a; UNEP 2012). The Global
Energy Assessment (Riahi et al. 2012) and other studies (Rogelj
et al. 2012a, 2013) also highlight the importance of demand-side
efficiency improvements to increase the chances of limiting warming to below 2°C across the board.
The available scientific literature makes a strong case that
achieving deep emissions reductions over the long term is feasible

B ackground M aterial on the L ikelihood of a 4°C and a 2°C W orld

Figure A1.4 As Figure A1.2 for the probability that temperature increase exceeds 1.5 and 2°C

Figure A1.4: As Figure A1.2 for the probability that temperature increase exceeds 1.5 and 2°C. Although 1.5°C is likely to be exceeded even in RCP2.6, the probability
is on a downward path by 2100. Still, stronger mitigation efforts than identified in RCP2.6 (see Rogelj et al. 2013) are needed to further bring down the probability of
exceeding 1.5°C to below 50 percent by 2100.

Methods for Temperature, Precipitation,
Heat Wave, and Aridity Projections
Bias Correction for Subset of
CMIP5 GCMs as Used Within
the ISI-MIP Framework and for
Temperature, Precipitation, and Heat
Wave Projections in this Report
The temperature, precipitation, and heat wave projections were
based on the ISI-MIP global climate database, using the historical
(20th century) period and future scenarios RCP2.6 and RCP8.5.
The ISI-MIP database consists of 5 CMIP5 global climate models
(gfdl-esm2m, hadgem2-es, ipsl-cm5a-lr, miroc-esm-chem, noresm1m), which were bias-corrected, such that the models reproduce
historically observed mean temperature and precipitation and their
year-to-year variability. The statistical bias correction algorithm as
used by WaterMIP/WATCH has been applied to correct temperature
and precipitation values. The correction factors were derived over
a construction period of 40 years, where the GCM outputs are
compared to the observation-based WATCH forcing data. For each
month, a regression was performed on the ranked data sets. Subsequently, the derived monthly correction factors were interpolated
toward daily ones. The correction factors were then applied to the
projected GCM data (Warszawski et al. in preparation)

Heat Wave Analysis
For each of the ISI-MIP bias-corrected CMIP5 simulation runs, the
authors determined the local monthly standard deviation due to
natural variability over the 20th century for each individual month.

To do so, they first used a singular spectrum analysis to extract
the long-term non-linear warming trend (that is, the climatological
warming signal). Next, they detrended the 20th century monthly
time series by subtracting the long-term trend, which provides
the monthly year-to-year variability. From this detrended signal,
monthly standard deviations were calculated, which were then
averaged seasonally. In the present analysis, the authors employ
the standard deviation calculated for the last half of the 20th century (1951–2010); they found, however, that this estimate is robust
with respect to different time periods.

Sands, R.D., H. Förster, K. Schumacher and C.A. Jones (2013) Bio-electricity and Land Use in the Future Agricultural Resources
Model (FARM), in review at Climatic Change for special issue on Technology Outcomes and Climate Policy Objectives.
Sands, R.D., K. Schumacher, H. Förster and J. Beckman (2013) U.S. CO2 Mitigation Scenarios in a Global Context: Welfare,
Trade and Land Use, in review at The Energy Journal for special issue on US Technology Transitions Under Alternative Climate
Policies.

Methods for Multisectoral Hotspots Analysis
For the hotspots analysis presented in this report, simulations driven by those ISI-MIP GCMs going up to ∆GMT= 5°C have
been chosen. These are the RCP8.5 data from HadGEM2-ES, MIROC-ESM-CHEM, and IPSL-CM5A-LR. The analysis covers 11 global hydrological models, seven global gridded crop models, seven biomes models, and four malaria models.
All indicators have annual temporal resolution, neglecting seasonal patterns. For discharge and the Γ-metric, very low values
(for the latter of natural vegetation) can lead to spurious effects
when looking at changes by amplifying very small changes and
overemphasizing those regions (e.g., the Sahara). Therefore, values
are set to zero below a lower limit 0.01 km² yr–1 and a 2.5 percent
cover fraction of natural vegetation, respectively (Warszawski et
al. in review; von Bloh et al. 2010). The four crops are combined
through conversion to energy-weighted production per cell using
the following conversion factors for energy content [MJ kg–1 dry
matter]: wheat – 15.88, rice (paddy) – 13.47, maize – 16.93, and
soy – 15.4 (Wirsenius 2000; FAO 2001). Since only negative changes
are considered, a possible expansion of cropland to higher latitudes,
which is not accounted for because of the masking, is not important. Furthermore, this analysis can only give a limited perspective
of agricultural hotspots as for instance millet and sorghum, crops
widely grown in Africa, are not included in the analysis. Malaria
prevalence, representing the health sector, is only one example
of human health effects from climate change—although it is a
very relevant one given its potential links to human welfare and
economic development (Sachs and Malaney 2002). The impact
of climate change on malaria occurrence focuses on changes in
length of transmission season. This simple metric represents an
aggregated risk factor, since it neglects age-dependent immunity
acquisition associated with transmission intensity. Increases in
impacts associated with transitions from malaria-free to epidemic
conditions are also not considered. Initial areas of endemic malaria
vary widely between models and depend on their calibration and
focus region.

GMT is calculated from the GCM data before bias correction;
change is measured with respect to pre-industrial levels assuming
an offset from 0.8°C of the ISI-MIP 1980–2010 baseline.
Temperatures are binned at ∆GMT=1,2,3,4, and 5°C (±0.5°).
If a grid cell is identified as having crossed the threshold, the whole
area of the grid cell is assumed to be affected. This neglects, for
example, the separation of agricultural and natural vegetation
areas in a grid-cell, as such separation is below the resolution of
the analysis. The affected population fraction is not very sensitive
to applying population distributions for the year 2000 or for 2084,
although the total number of affected people would increase,
possibly substantially.

Methodology for Sectoral and
Multisectoral ISI-MIP Climate Model
Projections
Discharge is chosen as a measure for water availability. Food security
is represented by crop yields from four major staple crops (wheat,
rice, maize, and soy) on current rainfed and irrigated cropland,
synthesized by their caloric content. Thresholds are selected to
represent severe changes in the average conditions people have
experienced in the past. This suggests that impacts would be
severe, particularly when occurring simultaneously
For discharge (and cropland), severe changes are assumed when
the future projected average discharge (and crop yields) measured
over periods of 31 years is lower than today’s (1980–2010) 1-in10-year events. This concept is illustrated in Figure 6.2, and it means

A3.1 Illustration of the method for discharge in one grid cell in
Sub-Saharan Africa (longitude = 18.75, latitude = –15.25)

The points are the annual discharge from 1980–2099; the red line is the
threshold (the 10th percentile of the reference period distribution, which is the
first 31 points); the blue line is the running 31-year median, ranging from 1995
(1980–2010 median) to 2084 (2069–99 median). The crossing temperature
would be the temperature where the blue line falls below the red line.

that very low discharge/crop yields would become the norm. The
risk of a biome change metric with a severity threshold of 0.3, as
introduced in Chapter 6 on “Risk of Terrestrial Ecosystem Shifts”,
is applied to measure the impacts on ecosystems. Such impacts
could severely affect biodiversity and ecosystem services, which
would certainly affect livelihoods. Finally, the length of transmission season for malaria is included as an example for impacts of

182

climate change on human health, relevant not only for individuals but also for societies in terms of economic consequences.
The selected threshold is a transition from a transmission season
shorter than three months to one longer than three months, which
is associated with a transition from epidemic to endemic malaria.133
All the indicators measure potential impacts and do not take into
account socioeconomic conditions, livelihood strategies, and a
multitude of adaptation options that could mitigate the impacts
of the changes. Moreover, no absolute level of impacts is taken
into account, merely the crossing of the threshold.
As this analysis is based on multiple impact models per sector,
the robustness of results is ensured by requiring at least 50 percent
of the models to agree that the threshold has been crossed. A risk
estimate is included in the analysis, as the uncertainty stemming
from the different impact and climate models turns out to be very
large, and a weighting of models is neither possible nor desirable.
For that risk estimate, all regions with overlapping impacts are
taken into account, without restrictions on the minimum number
of models agreeing, and the sectoral crossing temperature is taken
as the 10th percentile of all climate-impact-model combinations.
The area is estimated in which two, three, and four sectors have
crossed their respective thresholds. Note that the maximum area
assessed is not equal for all sectors, as crop yields are only considered on present day cropland.

133 This is based on data from the MARA (Mapping Malaria Risk in Africa) Project:

www.mara.org.za.

Appendix

4

Crop Yield Changes under Climate Change
Crop yield projections were extracted from the studies listed in the table below. In an attempt to identify a common pattern
of the effects of CO2Â fertilization and adaptation measures on crop yield, all crops were gather together and no distinction
was made between crop types, irrigation systems, or regions in Asia. Moreover, whenever a study showed a range of GCM
models for a speciďŹ c crop, the average of the models as representative of yield change was considered.

In absolute numbers, Müller et al. (2010) project mean changes in crop yield (area-weighted mean
crop productivity) for South Asia (here also including Afghanistan and Myanmar) for the 10-year period 2046–55 compared to agricultural productivity in the 10-year period 1996–2005 in the range of
–18.9 percent (A1B scenario projections ranging from –7.9 percent to –21.9 percent among the five
GCMs), –15.3 percent (A2 scenario projections ranging from –9.9 percent to –16.6 percent), and
–14.4 percent (B1 scenario projections ranging from –7.2 percent to –17.8 percent) without CO2 fertilization (+21.3 percent, +24.6 percent, and +14.6 percent with CO2 fertilization respectively). Estimations are
based on the assumption of static production area and adjustment of sowing dates. For wheat, maize, sunflower, and rapeseed, it is additionally assumed that adaption in selecting suitable varieties is undertaken
(Müller et al. 2010).

Rice

Nelson et al. (2009, 2010)

A minor increase of 0.1 percent to 2.6 percent (8.5 to 10.2 percent with CO2 fertilization) is projected
for rainfed rice, while irrigated rice yields are expected to decrease significantly by up to 17.5 percent
(+1.4 to 2.5 percent with CO2 fertilization).

Jalota et al. (2012)

Rice-wheat cropping systems in central India are projected to see a decline in rice yields of –4.6 percent
for 2020, –16.1 percent for 2050, and –29.1 percent for 2080 compared to crop yields under the baseline
climate of 1989–2009 (estimates averaged over three GCMs for the A2 SRES scenario leading to a globalmean warming of 2.0°C and 3.2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050 and 2080). Yield declines are found
to be smaller (in the range of –2.4 percent, –13.3 percent, and –26.6 percent, when the transplanting date
is shifted by +7 days for rice. Jalota et al. (2012) also find a strong correlation between yield declines and
the shortening of crop duration under high temperature, whereas shifting the transplanting date seems to
be an effective measure to reduce the shortening of crop duration for both crops (Jalota et al. 2012).
When assuming that the full benefits of CO2 fertilization can be realized, declines in yield are again
projected to be lower but still smaller than yield levels under the current baseline climate for both crops.
Declines in rice yield are estimated to be in the range of –0.2 percent, –7.0 percent, and –17.5 percent,
with no adjustment of sowing dates and for the years 2020, 2050, and 2080, respectively (+2.2 percent,
–3.8 percent, and 14.6 percent with shifting the transplanting date by +7 days).

Ruane et al. (2012)

Bangladesh—Boro Rice without CO2 fertilization (A2 average of GCMs)
Bangladesh—Aman (monsoon) Rice without CO2 fertilization (A2 average of GCMs)
Bangladesh—Aus Rice without CO2 fertilization (A2 average of GCMs)

Wheat

Maize

Jalota et al. (2012)

Declines in wheat yields in the range of –8.8 percent for 2020, –22.5 percent for 2050, and –41 percent
for 2080 compared to crop yields under the baseline climate of 1989–2009 (estimates averaged over three
GCMs for the A2 SRES scenario leading to a global-mean warming of 2.0°C and 3.2°C above pre-industrial
levels by 2050 and 2080). Yield declines are found to be smaller (in the range –4.3 percent, –13.6 percent,
and –28 percent) when the transplanting date is shifted by +15 days.

Nelson et al. (2009, 2010)

The impacts on wheat yields are particularly severe. Irrigated wheat is projected to decrease by up
to 53.9 percent (–45.8 percent with CO2 fertilization) by 2050 compared to 2000 levels of crop yields, while
rainfed wheat yields may decline by up to 44.4 percent (–28.9 percent with CO2 fertilization).

Ruane et al. (2012)

Bangladesh—Wheat without CO2 fertilization (A2 average of GCMs)

Nelson et al. (2009, 2010)

Compared to crop yields in 2000, rainfed maize yields are projected to decline by 2.9 percent to 7.8 percent (+0.2 percent to –4.9 percent with CO2 fertilization), while irrigated maize is projected to decline
by 6.4 percent to 5.5 percent (–4.4 percent to –3.6 percent with CO2 fertilization).
(continued on next page)

For a global-mean warming of 2.0°C and 3.2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050 and 2080 (A2 SRES
scenario) and compared to baseline yields for the period 1970–95, HADCM3 projections show a significant decline in sorghum yields in the major sorghum growing areas (Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,
and Karnataka) in India. With current management practices, the monsoon crop is projected to decline
by 16 percent in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, and by 3 percent in Andhra Pradesh by 2020. Declines
are more severe for the 2050s and 2080s with reductions in yield of up to 17 percent in Madhya Pradesh
and Andhra Pradesh and as much as 76 percent in Karnataka. The winter crop is projected to decline, on
average, up to 7 percent by 2020, 11 percent by 2050, and 32 percent in 2080 with strongest declines in
Karnataka. These projections account for the potential beneficial effect of higher CO2 levels, although it
has to be noted that sorghum is a C4 crop, for which yield effects of CO2 fertilization are limited (Srivastava,
Kumar et al. 2010).
Srivastava et al. (2010)1 also analyze the effects of low-cost adaptation measures, change in crop variety,
and shifting sowing dates, on yield. For the monsoon crop, low-cost adaptation measures can reduce the
impact on yield by up to 25 percent in Karnataka in 2050, whereas adaptation gains in Madhya Pradesh
and Andhra Pradesh are in the order of 2–4 percent in 2020 and 4–10 percent in the 2050s and 2080s.
For the winter crop, projected adaptation gains are, on average, 2–4 percent in 2020, 1–11 percent
in 2050, and 12–26 percent in 2080. However, even with adaptation, sorghum yields are expected to decrease 1–2 percent in 2020, 3–8 percent in 2050, and 4–9 percent in 2080 in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra
Pradesh, while yield reductions in Karnataka are expected to remain at 3–4 percent post-2020 (Srivastava,
Kumar, et al. 2010).

1

Groundnut

Nelson et al. (2009, 2010)

Groundnut crop yields are expected to decline by 8.9 percent (up to +9.1 percent with CO2 fertilization) for
rainfed crops and by up to 10.6 percent (+9.4 percent with CO2 fertilization) for irrigated crops (Nelson et
al. 2009, 2010).

Soybean

Nelson et al. (2009, 2010)

Rainfed and irrigated soybean yields are both projected to decrease without CO2 fertilization (up
to 13.8 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively) while crop yields may increase when the CO2 fertilization
effect is realized (up to + 7.9 and + 12 percent, respectively).